tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7747235522493154982024-03-16T15:51:41.392-07:00BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS...Thoughts on books, authors and other things from a voracious reader.Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.comBlogger1418125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-65719395743685227472024-03-16T15:50:00.000-07:002024-03-16T15:50:59.266-07:00It's a Sunny Saturday<p>It's Saturday and we actually have the patio doors open. It's a mite cool but still nice to have the fresh air. I went for a walk this morning. I do need to get back in the saddle as I've put on a fair bit of weight. </p><p>We're being a bit lazy so I thought I'd do a quick update. So far in March I've completed 8 books. Below are my latest since my last update.</p><p><b>Just Finished</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4hGcfM4fqD84EDo56ODuf1m_S0vPdDy6UTGFyVJrcjD-bibpTfGULwxhH-ogs573px3JQlljpUhOOyueIplFj0UkWEVcczDCN4aMJF4Mk68OW_pneCe6DDVq1Q-6m3LcGt0RvQLH2wLAhcZ1ttYvwWwwBY9Pr6Y8DgpFMegXpj-dx_jdIrECUDDMFX4c/s475/Mrs%20In%20-%20Between.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="293" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4hGcfM4fqD84EDo56ODuf1m_S0vPdDy6UTGFyVJrcjD-bibpTfGULwxhH-ogs573px3JQlljpUhOOyueIplFj0UkWEVcczDCN4aMJF4Mk68OW_pneCe6DDVq1Q-6m3LcGt0RvQLH2wLAhcZ1ttYvwWwwBY9Pr6Y8DgpFMegXpj-dx_jdIrECUDDMFX4c/w123-h200/Mrs%20In%20-%20Between.jpg" width="123" /></a></div>1. <b>Don't Mess with Mrs. In-Between</b> by <b>Liz Evans</b> (PI Grace Smith #3 / 2015). I'm really enjoying this series. Unfortunately it seems she only wrote six in the series, the last being in 2005.<p></p><p>"Don't Mess with Mrs In-Between is the 3rd book in the Grace Smith mystery series by English author Liz Evans. The first two books were Who Killed Marilyn Monroe? and JFK is Missing! Grace Smith is a PI who works for a small detective agency, Vetch (the letch) (International) Associates Inc (don't be fooled by the firm name, it's piddly) in the coastal town of Seatoun. The firm basically consists of Vetch, Grace Smith, Annie (Grace's best friend and also one of the firm's PI's) and Janice, the recalcitrant secretary.</p><p>Vetch assigns Grace a strange case. Barbra Delaney has taken photos of 3 people coming out of a corner shop in the nearby town of St Biddy's. Not wanting to leave anything to her son in her will (family feud), she wants Grace to find out who the 3 people are, investigate them and then tell Barbra whether they are suitable for sharing Barbra's estate.</p><p>So, somewhat unwillingly, Grace takes the assignment and begins her investigation. All sorts of things will happen. Her flat will be turned over, the office will as well. Someone will be murdered. Grace will celebrate her 30th birthday.... sadly. She will have a relationship but is the young man who he seems to be? Best friend Annie is considering moving to a new firm in the London. And Grace has to travel around using Vetch's old auntie's bicycle because she can't user her own car. So either cycling or cadging rides, Grace finds herself in a convoluted case, where people smuggling, female impersonators and so many other things crop up.</p><p>It's all very fascinating. Grace is a cross between Kinsey Milhone, Kat Colorado and Stephanie Plum. She's an ex-cop who left under a cloud of suspicion and her relationship with the police is always somewhat confrontational. She doesn't mind bending the rules a bit to achieve her case. But she's always interesting, intelligent and able to work through the weeds to solve her case. The story is funny, dangerous and just enjoyable to read. Don't get caught up too much with the twists and turns. Just enjoy the seaside, the characters and the story. (4.0 stars)"</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBw0HFjYfSLy8RpRCfxu5raqBs3Upz4ht7biWxH3meU58yOa5VkUCNf5t1-n555O4fYrHFe13d2Ojss13RhWUIZ-7QqWPfQpNMyGyJ2jlc9QShl3l2uLE6FwBAO0B-XZL-IsYgVR4W9Sdfpx1-8q8td8xrhA2_bmXhUGHk1KcK5jabQTdM_TR5qbvLukg/s475/White%20Road.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="295" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBw0HFjYfSLy8RpRCfxu5raqBs3Upz4ht7biWxH3meU58yOa5VkUCNf5t1-n555O4fYrHFe13d2Ojss13RhWUIZ-7QqWPfQpNMyGyJ2jlc9QShl3l2uLE6FwBAO0B-XZL-IsYgVR4W9Sdfpx1-8q8td8xrhA2_bmXhUGHk1KcK5jabQTdM_TR5qbvLukg/w124-h200/White%20Road.jpg" width="124" /></a></div>2. <b>The White Road </b>by <b>John Connolly</b> (Charlie Parker #4 / 2002). My second book in this chilling series. <p></p><p>"The White Road is the 4th book in the PI Charlie Parker, mystery / thriller series by John Connolly. It's the 2nd book I've read in the series and while there is a back story taking place, not having read #'s 2 & 3 didn't affect my understanding of what was going on or my enjoyment of the story.</p><p>Charlie is living in Maine with his pregnant girlfriend, Rachel. An old friend, Elliot Norton, calls him and asks for his help in a case he is representing down in South Carolina. A young black man, is being tried for the rape and murder of a white woman and Elliot is having difficulties with the local white supremacist movement and needs help. Against his better judgement, Charlie agrees to go. He asks two friends. Louis and Angel, to come and provide him some physical assistance.</p><p>Also, in Maine, a cult leader who had damaged both Angel and Louis in a previous story (I think, anyway) is coming up for parole. There is something very dark about him, something 'spiritual'? The white supremacists from South Carolina are helping him with legal assistance as they want him in their group. </p><p>Oh yes, another guy getting out of prison in Maine, Cyrus, has some dark secrets and he wants to 'share' them with Rachel. Charlie has asked a friend to come up from New York to keep an eye on things while he is gone.</p><p>So that's the gist of the story. It's a rambling dark tale that moves from Charlie to Louis and Angel and a few others. It's dark, tense, dangerous and at times horrific. Bodies will ultimately start falling out of the trees... (well, maybe an exaggeration but there are a few). An evil history will come out, even involving Charlie's friend Elliot. There will be betrayal, 'evil spirits' and some twisted violence. It's a story that really draws you in but also might repel you. The bad folks are really evil and dangerous. Charlie and his friends are constantly in danger but they are also dangerous themselves and pretty darned competent. </p><p>Fascinating story that will give you the shivers but the ending is fairly satisfying. It's one of the better thriller series I've tried and I'll get back to those I've missed to clear up this back story. (If I dare) (4.0 stars)"</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYWFo6yB6B9HDnBhLeWGg6ASd9N_tvgHgqcdyqssye4xzpdGyIzB1Rc5pHxQJRGN7_NWIaq4K0r_eiHHuH1qdhk4dvjvZecOsoTar3emVtkXrGFTSPe4Uflasi3TUIQF6guwLYk0UoYLb6s_4KGS4jXiPD6EAbM3XdNWoewlG7LN-eR_bX17UZXNKTKyU/s475/Spaceboy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="295" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYWFo6yB6B9HDnBhLeWGg6ASd9N_tvgHgqcdyqssye4xzpdGyIzB1Rc5pHxQJRGN7_NWIaq4K0r_eiHHuH1qdhk4dvjvZecOsoTar3emVtkXrGFTSPe4Uflasi3TUIQF6guwLYk0UoYLb6s_4KGS4jXiPD6EAbM3XdNWoewlG7LN-eR_bX17UZXNKTKyU/w124-h200/Spaceboy.jpg" width="124" /></a></div>3. <b>Spaceboy</b> by <b>David Walliams</b> (2022). A new author for me, although I am familiar with his work as an actor / comedian on Little Britain.<p></p><p>"Spaceboy is a fun adventure story for new readers by comedian / actor David Walliams (Think Little Britain). It seems that Walliams has become quite a prolific author of children's novels.</p><p>Spaceboy features orphan Ruth, her 3-legged dog Yuri (named after famed Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin). Ruth lost her parents when she was young and she now has to live Aunt Dorothy. Ruth wants to go to outer space. Yuri found a broken telescope and Ruth fixed it and now spends her evenings watching the stars. </p><p>One night a flying saucer crash lands on Dorothy's property. And this begins a wild adventure as Ruth, Yuri (btw, Ruth fashioned a 4th leg out of an old egg whisk for Yuri) and Spaceboy try to escape, Dorothy, the local donut eating sheriff and scads of radiation suited soldiers. They will be captured, brought to the White House and then to NASA with a Dr. Strangelove like scientist.</p><p>It's a very fun adventure, with great drawings by Adam Stower. It has a bit of a feel of Roald Dahl to it. Ruth is a wonderful girl, strong, imaginative and spunky. Yuri is so cute and her faithful friend. And Spaceboy... well, look for a surprise. All in all, a great story for young folks beginning to explore the world of books. They'll love it. (4.0 stars)"</p><p><b>Currently Reading</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOTS-QNe6mX1XfCun7O5WC85WwKqyPvlko2yK6NzyPOScUotoNejwBkPQ-r29cB5BGTZANm1wg-5QGSZ4qX_htjtDJzhGi71p_EEggGXIpmsEB_EFGWHjIIsCpQEDE14Bj08bJ4zJ7WOU81uEpbHUU6ZtE9DSo1gTbMOSMUnOBqGLnwdwLmL8qdF3z3SY/s400/Ministry%20of%20Future.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOTS-QNe6mX1XfCun7O5WC85WwKqyPvlko2yK6NzyPOScUotoNejwBkPQ-r29cB5BGTZANm1wg-5QGSZ4qX_htjtDJzhGi71p_EEggGXIpmsEB_EFGWHjIIsCpQEDE14Bj08bJ4zJ7WOU81uEpbHUU6ZtE9DSo1gTbMOSMUnOBqGLnwdwLmL8qdF3z3SY/w133-h200/Ministry%20of%20Future.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>1.<b> The Ministry for the Future</b> by <b>Kim Stanley Robinson</b> (2020). A new Sci Fi author for me. This is the 3rd book in my Tome Challenge.<p></p><p>"<span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Ministry for the Future is a masterpiece of the imagination, using fictional eyewitness accounts to tell the story of how climate change will affect us all. Its setting is not a desolate, postapocalyptic world, but a future that is almost upon us. Chosen by Barack Obama as one of his favorite books of the year, this extraordinary novel from visionary science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson will change the way you think about the climate crisis." I like the technique of using eyewitness accounts to tell the story. Reminds of World War Z and Warday. Both excellent books.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpiofaqgvg88l4JgD5CtAYJu587rhDwspJuDA_jm5T_2tcSDBKQN7hof8_-zD_HUmWWKTzoUJLOzYFyZITlxSUS7ai0-YnZA4ki_Ne4CnORb9WzG7rTjYLAEEvFaJKbNVHe0GgMifAZRznjcmwpYxti13DDu9rpu10me9d7XiSI3UV6mnB4FklDio-5Jk/s2549/Maddie%20Hatter%20%232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2549" data-original-width="1650" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpiofaqgvg88l4JgD5CtAYJu587rhDwspJuDA_jm5T_2tcSDBKQN7hof8_-zD_HUmWWKTzoUJLOzYFyZITlxSUS7ai0-YnZA4ki_Ne4CnORb9WzG7rTjYLAEEvFaJKbNVHe0GgMifAZRznjcmwpYxti13DDu9rpu10me9d7XiSI3UV6mnB4FklDio-5Jk/w129-h200/Maddie%20Hatter%20%232.jpg" width="129" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">2. <b>Maddie Hatter and the Gilded Gauge</b> by <b>Jayne Barnard</b> (Maddie Hatter #2 / 2017). Jo and I met Jayne two years ago and she brought me all three of the Maddie Hatter trilogy. This is the next book in my series challenge.</span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A mysterious message from a midnight duelist sends fashion reporter Maddie Hatter to New York's finest parasol dueling academy, where she foils a daring daylight kidnapping.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">The grateful rescuee, only daughter of an American Steamlord, offers Maddie a job as her bodyguard. Soon both young ladies are up to their lace gloves in industrial intrigue and irrepressible street urchins.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Maddie's clockwork bird faces danger too: hungry owls, curious inventors, even a clockwork foe that hides sneaky tricks behind its jewel-green eyes.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">From the mansions of Park Avenue to the Statue of Liberty, Maddie hunts a fearless spy and confronts an unexpected power from her past."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>New Books</b></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYByVx0pd3ibL0UpHstiCVCi2jmhwwJz_JS_LU02z2vvixWf3sdr1eczh2dCjr4AAjDD3tmCHdOuEyCdfwMxNVJdO9o3e4fspAKTo3lXUr8qyJaEQ7jp0h4mIX75VWaG_r6B-6JXtJ8Ypef3mseL_DBFlxKt2PbkFk_uSZrM6ggCisu94o402pRoIUFak/s1000/rubymusic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="667" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYByVx0pd3ibL0UpHstiCVCi2jmhwwJz_JS_LU02z2vvixWf3sdr1eczh2dCjr4AAjDD3tmCHdOuEyCdfwMxNVJdO9o3e4fspAKTo3lXUr8qyJaEQ7jp0h4mIX75VWaG_r6B-6JXtJ8Ypef3mseL_DBFlxKt2PbkFk_uSZrM6ggCisu94o402pRoIUFak/w133-h200/rubymusic.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>1. <b>Rubymusic: A Popular History of Women's Music and Culture</b> by <b>Connie Kuhns</b> (2023). A new author for me.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In Rubymusic , award-winning journalist and broadcaster Connie Kuhns takes readers on an explosive journey through the Pacific Northwest’s groundbreaking women’s music scene in the 80s and 90s.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">When journalist Connie Kuhns approached Vancouver Cooperative Radio in 1981 to host a music program dedicated solely to playing music by women, there was some doubt at the station that there was enough music by women to fill half an hour—and besides, who would tune in? Such was the underground nature of women’s music. Despite the doubters, Rubymusic became a successful program, running for fifteen years, introducing listeners to countless artists through radio, magazines, and newspaper columns and on stage at Vancouver’s annual Folk Music Fest, and serving as a powerful platform for the feminist movements taking place in Vancouver’s punk scene and throughout music history in the 80s and 90s. Rubymusic also served as the launching pad for Kuhns’ life-long passion—the preservation of the histories and stories of the women with whom she crossed paths on the airwaves. Here is a time capsule of a pivotal moment in women’s music history, with special emphasis on the women’s music movement in Canada, including the only written history of the women involved in Vancouver’s punk rock scene."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFRyJX5vRYA8n-JvTKRbie79cyL4pi2v0cddddg7OxT6dsRUNq1-upnmA4XbffUJBXRDFzHPCKSZUP4BI4dPBkVw3nMeLCsYYL46ZqdzOxKGiDiJZs4_pLETDzxYZ3-wZcApeMlZbyX7PdC5swCzUfGSNiKa2phC3Jx7xORn9qWERfq0H9zeEh2QKQ4UU/s400/silverwing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="268" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFRyJX5vRYA8n-JvTKRbie79cyL4pi2v0cddddg7OxT6dsRUNq1-upnmA4XbffUJBXRDFzHPCKSZUP4BI4dPBkVw3nMeLCsYYL46ZqdzOxKGiDiJZs4_pLETDzxYZ3-wZcApeMlZbyX7PdC5swCzUfGSNiKa2phC3Jx7xORn9qWERfq0H9zeEh2QKQ4UU/w134-h200/silverwing.jpg" width="134" /></a></div>2. <b>Silverwing: The Graphic Novel</b> by <b>Kenneth Oppel</b> (2023).</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A</span> small bat blown off course makes the perilous journey home with new friends in the adventurous middle grade odyssey from award-winning author Kenneth Oppel—this bestselling story is now available in graphic novel format!</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Shade the young silverwing bat may be the runt of his colony, but he’s determined to prove himself on the long, dangerous winter migration to Hibernaculum—millions of wingbeats to the south. Too soon, his hopes are dashed when a fierce storm catches Shade in its grasp. Driven far from the others by the unforgiving winds, Shade is left alone.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">On his journey back to his family, Shade meets other winged loners. Marina is a Brightwing bat with a strange metal band on her leg, Zephyr the mystical albino bat has an unusual gift, and Goth the carnivorous vampire bat is the largest bat Shade has ever seen. Shade will need all the help he can get if he hopes to reunite with his colony, but with a long and perilous flight ahead, how will he know who to trust?"</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><b>Women Authors Whose Works I've Been Enjoying - Valerie Taylor</b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXl77B8YYSUQrUmKeHP39mYT3zBExxoyA6Zq6t5JHCWiH2pdyWZkevMzR48aZyDHOPv1ORk097d40lhU6pO_mi7UT34TC-VAR0K8bXXsln-LdvAYLmW_CMrBCuiITDhyphenhyphenhyphenhyphenqeJC9IBJWvQrxAP2vyjC5XaesdxzCx7pgI8-2EsBUinOLcgkj_6Mkv4pFfM/s496/Valerie_Taylor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="330" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXl77B8YYSUQrUmKeHP39mYT3zBExxoyA6Zq6t5JHCWiH2pdyWZkevMzR48aZyDHOPv1ORk097d40lhU6pO_mi7UT34TC-VAR0K8bXXsln-LdvAYLmW_CMrBCuiITDhyphenhyphenhyphenhyphenqeJC9IBJWvQrxAP2vyjC5XaesdxzCx7pgI8-2EsBUinOLcgkj_6Mkv4pFfM/w133-h200/Valerie_Taylor.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Valerie Taylor</b></td></tr></tbody></table>Valerie Taylor was an American author who lived from 1913 (born in Aurora Illinois) - 1997 (died in Tucson, Arizona. She was one of the authors who published in the lesbian pulp fiction genre. I've tried 3 of her books.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx0OdMsS58BY3v6vnRqlFxjVYqirl_sPwrgHYmPksaOfjFu1XhXEntM3Obmgr2ydNI0OOIP4Ct_XXzc4fZZg9JhocA6Jkzxr699lBpl3U01yhlB6rBLH9Hk8jpilL2VE-XgBYqs776YCGYrmNLz34d667CTDc1yCviZKimHLbhTDjkym4iI5poWkXhhPI/s164/return%20to%20lesbos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="164" data-original-width="100" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx0OdMsS58BY3v6vnRqlFxjVYqirl_sPwrgHYmPksaOfjFu1XhXEntM3Obmgr2ydNI0OOIP4Ct_XXzc4fZZg9JhocA6Jkzxr699lBpl3U01yhlB6rBLH9Hk8jpilL2VE-XgBYqs776YCGYrmNLz34d667CTDc1yCviZKimHLbhTDjkym4iI5poWkXhhPI/w122-h200/return%20to%20lesbos.jpg" width="122" /></a></div>1. <b>Return to Lesbos</b> (1963). </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;">"</span>Return to Lesbos is Valerie Taylor's sequel to her Stranger on Lesbos. Stranger left protagonist Frances Ollenfield, who had left her husband Bill, for a lesbian relationship, back with her husband. She had received a beating from a woman she'd picked up. In Return, Frances has been living with Bill for a year since her previous experiences and Bill is moving them to a small town outside Chicago due a promotion.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Frances goes with him but lives a loveless life with Bill. She knows she is a lesbian but had promised herself to give her marriage one more try. In this town she discovers a book store run by homosexual, Vince, who immediately takes to Frances. She also briefly meets Erika Frohmann, a young woman who Vince has taken under his wing. Erika had been involved with Kate but that relationship ended tragically.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">So there is your story. Will Frances make the difficult decision either to stay with her husband or will she pursue Erika, who has immediately attracted her? I guess in some ways it's a simple story but Taylor tells it caringly and gently. The tension between Bill and Frances is palpable. Frances is more independent now than in the first story but even with her strong feelings towards Erika, she still has to make a difficult decision; stay or go. </span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Vince was a highlight for me, a wonderful, sensitive character, looking after Erika but wanting her and Frances to be happy. The priest that Frances meets was also a pleasant surprise. It's a very short story, but told delicately and lovingly. (4 stars)"</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN78DZLqqj9klqqQy0lapHgWUhNWtHrroPXUOz8PU36EhK6DTkMMFO2MnKcB_Qcp0ZvW2BuDsqqrmuCh6W8GTjwCAborHsJg6y6HdY2fvHZaLRkexHHDoy06XfqG07ZOcN1ZPaQFyIsDrniVQNdk5ywsgUOZWvG2O5AH2bS-HEhS_6qniSAwMvWXIQZVg/s1200/girls%20in%203b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="763" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN78DZLqqj9klqqQy0lapHgWUhNWtHrroPXUOz8PU36EhK6DTkMMFO2MnKcB_Qcp0ZvW2BuDsqqrmuCh6W8GTjwCAborHsJg6y6HdY2fvHZaLRkexHHDoy06XfqG07ZOcN1ZPaQFyIsDrniVQNdk5ywsgUOZWvG2O5AH2bS-HEhS_6qniSAwMvWXIQZVg/w127-h200/girls%20in%203b.jpg" width="127" /></a></div>2. <b>The Girls in 3-B</b> (1959).</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"A couple of years ago I discovered The Feminist Press and their Femmes Fatales 'women write pulp' series. It introduced me to writers such as Vera Caspary, Evelyn Piper and Valerie Taylor. I first read Taylor's Stranger on Lesbos. She was noted as an author in the lesbian pulp fiction genre. The Girls in 3-B is my second look at her work.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Annice, Pat and Barby are three friends living in a small farm community. For their own differing reasons, they want to move to the big city, Chicago. Annice is bored with farm living and wants to explore the arts and life in the big city. Barby wants to get away from home from a childhood trauma. Pat wants a career in the big city. The three share an apartment, 3-B, in Chicago. Annice starts as a student trying to improve her poetry. Barby's father, who has a strange relationship with his daughter, gets her a job in a department store. Pat gets a job with a book publisher.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Their lives diverge quite rapidly. Annice, even though she is sort of dating Jackson, a student at the college, gets involved with a 'Beatnik', Alan and begins to explore sex an drugs. Barby is raped by the apartment manager and finds herself stressed and more and more under his control. Pat has a deep crush on the editor of the publishing company.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">The story follows the three, developing their characters nicely. Many powerful themes are approached and discussed, child abuse, abortion, incest, lesbian relationships, drugs. Considering the story was originally written in 1959, they must have been more powerful. The pulp publishers seemed to have much more freedom than the movies and TV and more conservative publishing companies. Taylor approaches these themes delicately without too much titillation. It's an interesting, different story, maybe a gritty Harlequin in some ways but dealing with strong issues. I enjoyed reading it. I liked the Introduction description of the pulp authors and I enjoyed the Afterword, covering Taylor's life. I also liked the ending. (4 stars)"</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXr0h6Wu-UPSzeB50BXLmtOnAu4bAoygf2MTuW6DJDwXeJOIi_STqjF22J1j0jLlVf97bqNtE2I58POEc_-Mfwdo10HBFOcTofY6M381NT9mKL168ELElkTQdv7gRHQjIlqK5c32lw6_XVpVzAMi5rzXeGKapclTcVo5bfgXHED-M9vD4AZs77jAjDsNo/s475/stranger%20on%20lesbos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="295" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXr0h6Wu-UPSzeB50BXLmtOnAu4bAoygf2MTuW6DJDwXeJOIi_STqjF22J1j0jLlVf97bqNtE2I58POEc_-Mfwdo10HBFOcTofY6M381NT9mKL168ELElkTQdv7gRHQjIlqK5c32lw6_XVpVzAMi5rzXeGKapclTcVo5bfgXHED-M9vD4AZs77jAjDsNo/w124-h200/stranger%20on%20lesbos.jpg" width="124" /></a></div>3. <b>Stranger on Lesbos</b> (1960).</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"I first heard of Valerie Taylor when I bought another book, Bunny Lake is Missing by Evelyn Piper. The edition I bought was published by The Feminist Press. I began looking for some of the other authors that they published; Dorothy Hughes - In a Lonely Place, Vera Caspary - Laura (I found this one). Anyway, I also managed to find Stranger on Lesbos this past weekend.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Valerie Taylor was a leading light in the lesbian pulp fiction genre of the late '50s and '60s. Stranger in Lesbos was her fourth book, published initially in 1960. It's a simple story really. Frances, a 1950s housewife, finds herself in a boring marriage, ignored by her husband and stuck in a stifling suburban life. She takes a course at university, deciding to work on the degree she never finished due to her marriage. At her first class she meets Bake and an attraction develops rapidly. </span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Even though still married, she finds herself exploring the lesbian world, her deep attraction and love for Bake enticing her to spend more and more time with her. The book deals with her dilemma, whether to stay in her current family situation or follow her heart and leave her husband. It's a difficult story to rate, but suffice it to say that it is a thoughtful, interesting story; one of love and difficult decision - making. Taylor further explored Frances' life in some of her future books. (3 stars)"</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">You can read more about Valerie Taylor at this wiki <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerie_Taylor_(novelist)#Fiction">link</a></b>. Check it out.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Enjoy the rest of your weekend.</span></div>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-86252335630432949492024-03-11T13:28:00.000-07:002024-03-11T13:28:43.677-07:00A Monday Update<p>Jo is working today because her boss was curling in a competition on the mainland over the weekend so she said she'd work today. Monday is a short day so I'll go get her around 3ish. The Blue Jays spring training game just finished so I've time for a quick update before I do a few chores.</p><p><b>Just Finished</b></p><p>I completed 2 books since my last update.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiilS2amDBDuRIGKcEu0DVdgQ3Zzu3eHwalPgS_NGoehrwvlvxP8wl5yqcZVX_eeOxbWm-5WsgHm8dsiL9AKALzoc25A4_DDh5UJo_GCvyLkIoteL8eHTlQbRXeXx-h66jY7HQUmNW7Pa3GXtHBVWfnHH8lTgdCWpCnMfsFD8Fj5BmH3v2eC5EXgD5dBq4/s475/Amateur%20Corpse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="297" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiilS2amDBDuRIGKcEu0DVdgQ3Zzu3eHwalPgS_NGoehrwvlvxP8wl5yqcZVX_eeOxbWm-5WsgHm8dsiL9AKALzoc25A4_DDh5UJo_GCvyLkIoteL8eHTlQbRXeXx-h66jY7HQUmNW7Pa3GXtHBVWfnHH8lTgdCWpCnMfsFD8Fj5BmH3v2eC5EXgD5dBq4/w125-h200/Amateur%20Corpse.jpg" width="125" /></a></div>1. <b>An Amateur Corpse</b> by <b>Simon Brett</b> (Charles Paris #4 / 1978). Brett is my March focus author. I hope to read 3 or 4 of his mysteries.<p></p><p>"An Amateur Corpse is the 4th book in the Charles Paris mystery series by English author Simon Brett, one of 3 of his mystery series that I'm enjoying. Charles Paris is a struggling actor who gets involved in mysteries in each story. Simple, eh? Yup.</p><p>In this story, Charles is helping his best friend Hugo Mecken. Hugo is an ad executive who has provided Charles with an excellent opportunity to get into voice work. As a result Charles agreed to act as a critic for the Back Stager's production of The Seagull. The Back Stagers are an amateur troupe who present works and it so happens that Hugo's wife, Charlotte had the lead role.</p><p>Unfortunately, Charlotte, who is one of the few actual talents in the play, will end up murdered and Hugo will be arrested and also will confess to the murder. Relations between the two have been tense and Hugo has been drinking himself senseless. While Hugo can't actually remember committing the act, he figures he probably did and in any event doesn't actually care.</p><p>Charles doubts his friend's guilt and that is the crux of the story, as he conducts his own investigation, comes up with various suspects and ultimately... (well, I won't tell you if he actually solves it. I wouldn't want to ruin your reading fun)</p><p>It's an interesting series as it combines murder mysteries, with a behind the scenes look at the acting industry (in Great Britain) and the struggles of people to get into it. Paris has struggled for years, has ruined a marriage, is a bit of a drunk, and makes an interesting detective. His friend, Gerald, an entertainment lawyer, usually comes along for the ride and in this case represents Hugo. The rest of the cast are the actors in the Back Stager's troupe, all different and all possible suspects. </p><p>An enjoyable read as always. I plan to explore Brett's other series this month and hope to read at least one more Paris as well. We'll see. Check them out. (3.5 stars)"</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiltjVgNZDkuVs-4NNd21245TkwK4kS-i3-UNJaKcxNTAl86bOFfsg6EcIzMya6A9OBsQh0SUZIzxYvy4jA2Gfk6Qe7oLZ8vSw7g8WH3HZ-5y3BJ9_VSM-ZyZAxv7UMA49-e_JU1BKjL_MrBpjkWNpzPUfwR4IVmxDyYVeSQZdrnGKCZY_lo-SzNbFUSgU/s475/Saga%20Vol%206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="309" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiltjVgNZDkuVs-4NNd21245TkwK4kS-i3-UNJaKcxNTAl86bOFfsg6EcIzMya6A9OBsQh0SUZIzxYvy4jA2Gfk6Qe7oLZ8vSw7g8WH3HZ-5y3BJ9_VSM-ZyZAxv7UMA49-e_JU1BKjL_MrBpjkWNpzPUfwR4IVmxDyYVeSQZdrnGKCZY_lo-SzNbFUSgU/w130-h200/Saga%20Vol%206.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>2. <b>Saga, Volume 6</b> by <b>Brian K. Vaughan</b> (2016). One of my favorite graphic novel series.<p></p><p>"Saga, Volume 6 by Brian K. Vaughan is, of course, the sixth volume in the Saga....er.... saga? It consists of Chapters 31 - 36 in this entertaining outer space adventure series. </p><p>Hazel, the daughter of warring space tribes, is now growing up, maybe 6ish and is a prisoner, along with her grand mother on the planet of Landfall, her mother's home planet. Mother and Dad have been reunited and are searching for Hazel. Two reporters are out on the hunt for the two, Mom a female soldier from Landfall and Dad a fighter from Wreath. (Hazel is their love child). Prince Robot IV, now a simple civilian is hiding out with his son. Mom and Dad of Hazel think he can help them get Hazel back. Oh yes, there's also a bounty hunter out there, seeking revenge because his girl friend was killed by Mom and Dad.</p><p>So the story wanders between the various groupings. There is lots of new info. There are reconciliations, new alliances and lots of action... It's an excellent story, just like the others, page turners as they are called. Great artwork. Great characters and lots of fun. I'm currently waiting for Volume 7 to arrive. If you like Sci Fi, you really should check the series out. (3.5 stars)"</p><p><b>Currently Reading</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-YdAAFGJqNjt9dbYl3eBA1mLRyBSqjouLHVWdX-nXVL9DsMx4AsqTgVeGESupmn-ArQbgcrR7asbU_blY34XHE7dlDV55VSx-Sg_8Di7s_2TZVWebd-Wvr3lIypOkuiQvz5w-DXcM_dV6vV7PoLfKX7pvHRB0YiC3ck8Gb3v6d9puk7YlaUXp51rK50/s160/Murder%20in%20museum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="103" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-YdAAFGJqNjt9dbYl3eBA1mLRyBSqjouLHVWdX-nXVL9DsMx4AsqTgVeGESupmn-ArQbgcrR7asbU_blY34XHE7dlDV55VSx-Sg_8Di7s_2TZVWebd-Wvr3lIypOkuiQvz5w-DXcM_dV6vV7PoLfKX7pvHRB0YiC3ck8Gb3v6d9puk7YlaUXp51rK50/w129-h200/Murder%20in%20museum.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>1. <b>Murder in the Museum</b> by <b>Simon Brett</b> (Fethering #4 / 2003)<p></p><p>"<span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bracketts, an Elizabethan house near town of Fethering, is about to be turned into a museum. Once the home of celebrated poet Esmond Cloudleigh, it has been decided that it should now become a shrine to his life and poetry.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">But the transition from house to museum is running far from smoothly, and Carole Seddon soon begins to regret her decision to be on the Board as the witnesses bitter antagonism and rivalry amongst the members.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Then a shocking discovery is made: Buried in the kitchen garden is a human skeleton. And before too long, there is a second body, not yet cold."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">No new books since my last update. Surprised? 😎😁</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><b>Women Authors Whose Works I've Been Enjoying - Jodi Taylor</b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnN0T1iKaBAYfJVaFl7_sIbQOgmcIdcuxUPMZBcaYLfVhnBkaK8cQy1Wxuk8jkwM4NtrBgi_97nnDe-tEnn2kj5OU9vf4xqSWbtCrvWOK-tNuTQ5fvzL6DUl1F5Apop_DcRu-rCWJ0FjiafZ5XfC5pEaLve2lq5oyDirUs1VqchLV2ggmhOxwIneXfmJ8/s147/Jodi%20Taylor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="147" data-original-width="140" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnN0T1iKaBAYfJVaFl7_sIbQOgmcIdcuxUPMZBcaYLfVhnBkaK8cQy1Wxuk8jkwM4NtrBgi_97nnDe-tEnn2kj5OU9vf4xqSWbtCrvWOK-tNuTQ5fvzL6DUl1F5Apop_DcRu-rCWJ0FjiafZ5XfC5pEaLve2lq5oyDirUs1VqchLV2ggmhOxwIneXfmJ8/w190-h200/Jodi%20Taylor.jpg" width="190" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Jodi Taylor</b></td></tr></tbody></table>It's been two months since I last worked on this thread. Time goes by so quickly. Amazing. English fantasy author Jodi Taylor is the creator of the Chronicles of St. Mary's time travel series. I took a chance on the first book, Just One Damned Thing After Another and got hooked on the series. I've read the first three books of the now 15 book series and look forward to continuing with it. She has also started a new Time travel series, the Time Police and I look forward to trying that as well. She has also started two other series which I may have to check out. For the time being, let's look at the last book in the St. Mary's series that I've enjoyed and then the other two books I've got on my book shelf. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Y3oPdzO7lnBHY5VU2gM9X7LAeg55ulOglpX5UsXhwW5jHmIScAZIMiw-5tsW2IVsVUyM6TmYDta-Oay0-k2JArlCdi52wsxpyhM303G9My6HDkyODMqkV20-Xr-k_tXNWzqfKEFkXMbXhJrC2Hw96NcU3o8gSkqcRrzbZ2vET901NVQ2spnJmysnvbo/s500/Second%20Chance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="328" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Y3oPdzO7lnBHY5VU2gM9X7LAeg55ulOglpX5UsXhwW5jHmIScAZIMiw-5tsW2IVsVUyM6TmYDta-Oay0-k2JArlCdi52wsxpyhM303G9My6HDkyODMqkV20-Xr-k_tXNWzqfKEFkXMbXhJrC2Hw96NcU3o8gSkqcRrzbZ2vET901NVQ2spnJmysnvbo/w131-h200/Second%20Chance.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>1. <b>A Second Chance</b> (St. Mary's #3 / 2014).</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="color: #1e1915;">A Second Chance by Jodi Taylor is the 3rd book in the Chronicles of St Mary's time travel series. Each one seems a bit better than the previous book. So far anyway.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">In this story, Max, head of the History department of St Mary's travels with her teams to Troy, a cheese rolling competition and the battle of Agincourt. Oh yes, she will meet up with arch-enemy Ronan again too. Her relationship with head engineer Leon is up and down and there will be tragedy and historical arguments (shocking and scary). Max is considering her retirement; will Troy be her last visit into the past?</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">The Chronicles are gritty and realistic and when necessary hold back no punches. Troy is a violent and shocking battle. The way it is portrayed and how the team prepares for observing the events is very interesting. Taylor presents a fascinating representation of the events at Troy. It's a very dark time, quite scary. </span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">The story is so well-crafted, moving from the time traveling to relationships. The cast of characters are all excellent and fleshed out. Jodi Taylor deals with the space-time conundrum, sometimes ignoring but it's always present. The ending is surprising and makes you want to move along to the next book. RIGHT AWAY! So entertaining and 'enjoyable'. Just don't expect light fluff. I look forward to continuing the series and also trying the Connie Willis time travel series to compare the two. (4.0 stars)"</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd9rbG9k3Z_o9j72SQU_BJmksi_2j7Lwo0PTzm-PexIxvbw7cL3jCSt_qlWfdUR2xLpLRDBbE91Sak3Oh0NMdMUxq5Za4VmjRFp_4RHvcIjR3Yta_zKiJ_I4ikur7UpIq2OllHtsPSeHYcHj0AA6vy-s2sCQENIU3BHTVk9NkMx4WdQU-wxrb0rcFUOQw/s500/Trail%20Through%20Time.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="326" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd9rbG9k3Z_o9j72SQU_BJmksi_2j7Lwo0PTzm-PexIxvbw7cL3jCSt_qlWfdUR2xLpLRDBbE91Sak3Oh0NMdMUxq5Za4VmjRFp_4RHvcIjR3Yta_zKiJ_I4ikur7UpIq2OllHtsPSeHYcHj0AA6vy-s2sCQENIU3BHTVk9NkMx4WdQU-wxrb0rcFUOQw/w131-h200/Trail%20Through%20Time.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>2. <b>A Trail Through Time</b> (St. Mary's #4 / 2014).</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">St Mary’s is back and is facing a battle to survive in this, the fourth instalment of the Chronicles.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Max and Leon are re-united and looking forward to a peaceful lifetime together. But, sadly, they don’t even make it to lunchtime.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">The action races from 17th century London to Ancient Egypt and from Pompeii to 14th century Southwark as they’re pursued up and down the timeline, playing a perilous game of hide and seek until they’re finally forced to take refuge at St Mary’s – where new dangers await them.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">As usual, there are plenty of moments of humour, but the final, desperate, Battle of St Mary’s is in grim earnest. Overwhelmed and outnumbered and with the building crashing down around them, how can St Mary’s possibly survive?</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">So, make sure the tea’s good and strong…"</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJvxFx9Bi5vEQ2Q1BhizHIVNly8HCQFzhbLRNpXoE4MNZseDzirf96JW3OXPqyWWMcOoWaziV9SxhM_ThIkI90-RQoDpzZP9mKhu_smy_BP1yn8X6-fs0Nd0KkLQVCGJ9UxJUIgxo_kUcqflp-m4C2KuSdpZKEwVhhcUDa9fqi3zjxXuV1hfaYWSBk35c/s400/Doing%20Time.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="260" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJvxFx9Bi5vEQ2Q1BhizHIVNly8HCQFzhbLRNpXoE4MNZseDzirf96JW3OXPqyWWMcOoWaziV9SxhM_ThIkI90-RQoDpzZP9mKhu_smy_BP1yn8X6-fs0Nd0KkLQVCGJ9UxJUIgxo_kUcqflp-m4C2KuSdpZKEwVhhcUDa9fqi3zjxXuV1hfaYWSBk35c/w130-h200/Doing%20Time.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>3. <b>Doing Time</b> (Time Police #1 / 2019).</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A long time ago in the future, the secret of time travel became known to all. Unsurprisingly, the world nearly ended. There will always be idiots who want to change history.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Enter the Time Police. An all-powerful, international organisation tasked with keeping the timeline straight. At all costs.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Their success is legendary. The Time Wars are over. But now they must fight to save a very different future - their own.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">This is the story of Jane, Luke and Matthew - the worst recruits in Time Police history. Or, very possibly, three young people who might change everything."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">The Chronicles of St. Marys got me interested in time travel series and I've since tried Connie Willis's Oxford Time Travel and others. The complete listing of Jodi Taylor's books can be found at this <b><a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/t/jodi-taylor/">link</a></b>.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">One final note. Jo and I enjoyed the Oscars last night. During one of the commercial breaks, they advertised a new movie. Let's go back a place first. In my last reading update, I provided a review of <b><a href="https://bill-booksbooksbooks.blogspot.com/2024/03/a-march-2024-reading-update-etc-etc.html">The Wild Robot</a></b> by Peter Brown. It was an excellent Young Adult fantasy. In fact I bought the other two books in the series because I enjoyed it so much and want to see how it ends. Anyway, during one of the commercial breaks last night, there was an advertisement for a new movie based on <b><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29623480/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_the%2520wild%2520robot">The Wild Robot</a></b>! It looks fantastic! I'll have to try and finish the other two books before it comes out.</span></span></div>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-6363697838753503092024-03-06T12:36:00.000-08:002024-03-06T12:36:46.967-08:00A March 2024 Reading Update, Etc, Etc....<p>So let's see. On Sunday and Monday it snowed like crazy, making up for the lack of snow we got over December and January. Since Monday afternoon, it's been sunny and bright, but still coldish. By next week it's supposed to hit 15℃. Go figure.</p><p>It's the beginning of March so here is a reading update, a look at some new books, and then I've got some house work to do and the dogs will want their lunch. 😊😉</p><p><b>New Books</b></p><p>Had a few book orders arrive and I traded in some books at my used book store, so bought a few. Here are some highlights.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRzd1Nz8SB6RFd1Pt9tZ0xjDf3GT23UltSunqpCCIIKzTbQvXi6XhpQ9CbZDcqB6cSF-mkBsRXiYAVi9TJ5n66MBbQx71OmO_GXugvl631WI2UBOjIp5apbFuWBUklGw-hIIEw7EzkBgBQ0g0y131aR-cPaI7IBjRChMhgFwG2D0UZ1C5GKE_pDR6CegQ/s475/Dark%20tales.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="309" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRzd1Nz8SB6RFd1Pt9tZ0xjDf3GT23UltSunqpCCIIKzTbQvXi6XhpQ9CbZDcqB6cSF-mkBsRXiYAVi9TJ5n66MBbQx71OmO_GXugvl631WI2UBOjIp5apbFuWBUklGw-hIIEw7EzkBgBQ0g0y131aR-cPaI7IBjRChMhgFwG2D0UZ1C5GKE_pDR6CegQ/w130-h200/Dark%20tales.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>1. <b>Dark Tales</b> by <b>Shirley Jackson </b>(Short Stories / 2016). I've enjoyed the Shirley Jackson books I've read so far. She was unique in the horror genre.<p></p><p>"<span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Step into the unsettling world of Shirley Jackson this autumn with a collection of her finest, darkest short stories, revealing the queen of American gothic at her mesmerizing best.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">There's something nasty in suburbia. In these deliciously dark tales, the daily commute turns into a nightmarish game of hide and seek, the loving wife hides homicidal thoughts and the concerned citizen might just be an infamous serial killer. In the haunting world of Shirley Jackson, nothing is as it seems and nowhere is safe, from the city streets to the country manor, and from the small-town apartment to the dark, dark woods...</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Includes the following stories: 'The Possibility of Evil'; 'Louisa, Please Come Home'; 'Paranoia'; 'The Honeymoon of Mrs Smith'; 'The Story We Used to Tell'; 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice'; 'Jack the Ripper'; 'The Beautiful Stranger'; 'All She Said Was Yes'; 'What a Thought'; 'The Bus'; 'Family Treasures'; 'A Visit'; 'The Good Wife'; 'The Man in the Woods'; 'Home'; 'The Summer People'."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHeZMDK-DjPqGrkT83qWDvKFym8WAvh_X8S1D0Asu0Gdkn22f5MNal4nvSqUEsPYPxE_O1Nw_3ymvS244wtXC6Q76Hk21dxT-Y0SP19ur1E6z_KPhz7rw7rKCGaVQZqSg8Fy1gWF3Ypez0Tj-KVngbw7bEUgDA_0drHBgGr0XvJY99hUSIokdQnjOnAL0/s475/Speedy%20Death.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="310" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHeZMDK-DjPqGrkT83qWDvKFym8WAvh_X8S1D0Asu0Gdkn22f5MNal4nvSqUEsPYPxE_O1Nw_3ymvS244wtXC6Q76Hk21dxT-Y0SP19ur1E6z_KPhz7rw7rKCGaVQZqSg8Fy1gWF3Ypez0Tj-KVngbw7bEUgDA_0drHBgGr0XvJY99hUSIokdQnjOnAL0/w131-h200/Speedy%20Death.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>2. <b>Speedy Death</b> by <b>Gladys Mitchell</b> (Mrs. Bradley #1 / 1929). Mitchell is a new mystery author for me and seems to have been prolific.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dr Beatrice Bradley is not your usual genteel spinster. Although elderly, she is a practicing psychiatrist (at a time when a psychiatrist was rare, and a female one almost unheard of). She is quite proud of being ugly, and has darkly sharp insights plus an extremely wicked tongue.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">The nice, formal country house guests are shocked by her behavior, and even more upset by the death of the star visitor, renowned world traveler Mountjoy, found in the bath. Suspects galore, of course (including fiancée Eleanor, pompous Alastair and son Garde, the lovely Dorothy, and lets not forget curious naturalist Carstairs (although many wish they could)."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJPOGkK9aQX-kWXrbqzfTQHRH2VCm07GdNsClTzwne5ym1SAvw-kvuAf-gDzsTbQz_9rV7CjXa5m1UCPDRxC-cdklwd_K12scFwSekDUTa_SVHasRTAN9O81oEdEJkmeuWg4E2_ZRSi7zbzkUfTSaQEvJW_tFh_79VBuhe1o25B2Dp5Sv5l2lQrLKSK-o/s499/Send%20for%20Paul%20Temple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="328" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJPOGkK9aQX-kWXrbqzfTQHRH2VCm07GdNsClTzwne5ym1SAvw-kvuAf-gDzsTbQz_9rV7CjXa5m1UCPDRxC-cdklwd_K12scFwSekDUTa_SVHasRTAN9O81oEdEJkmeuWg4E2_ZRSi7zbzkUfTSaQEvJW_tFh_79VBuhe1o25B2Dp5Sv5l2lQrLKSK-o/w131-h200/Send%20for%20Paul%20Temple.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>3. <b>Send for Paul Temple </b>by <b>Francis Durbridge</b> (Paul Temple #1 / 1938). When I was still working, I used to come home for lunch and Jo would often be listening to BBC radio's enactments of various books. One was the Paul Temple series. I listened to some with her and now I'd like to see what the books are like.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the dead of night, a watchman is brutally attacked and with his dying breath cries out, “The Green Finger!” It is the latest in a series of robberies to take place that have left Scotland Yard mystified, and with no other choice but to call upon the expertise of Detective Paul Temple.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Aided by the beautiful journalist Louise Harvey – affectionately known as Steve – the duo discover that this is not the first victim to warn of the dangerous and elusive ‘Green Finger’… who or what is it? The pair must work together to solve the deepening mystery."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3I__eMBraxyFevkGGiTXru1l_KiFMpNGbyKlYjve2GliMiK5wLI2Y0hRAGJUMLHgPOawI5mGlub4GzGgqIn3boa1cDxITiLKyRs0esiA9L1-PViZZ021ZfW7jJGS94cSH4YzkBwqGNY9sBSCNSWZe95WCHFCy9_VfTceJx9JOasjxEaTda14R56_iVtI/s475/Beastly%20Murder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="291" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3I__eMBraxyFevkGGiTXru1l_KiFMpNGbyKlYjve2GliMiK5wLI2Y0hRAGJUMLHgPOawI5mGlub4GzGgqIn3boa1cDxITiLKyRs0esiA9L1-PViZZ021ZfW7jJGS94cSH4YzkBwqGNY9sBSCNSWZe95WCHFCy9_VfTceJx9JOasjxEaTda14R56_iVtI/w123-h200/Beastly%20Murder.jpg" width="123" /></a></div>4. <b>The Animal Lover's Book of Beastly Murder</b> by <b>Patricia Highsmith </b>(Short Stories / 1975). Highsmith is another of those strange but interesting authors that you just want to read more of.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-weight: 600;">Nowhere is Patricia Highsmith's affinity for animals more apparent than in</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-weight: 600;"> </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-weight: 600;">The Animal-Lover's Book of Beastly Murder</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-weight: 600;">, for here she transfers the murderous thoughts and rages most associated with humans onto the animals themselves.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">You will meet, for example, in "In the Dead of Truffle Season," a truffle-hunting pig who tries to whet his own appetite for a while; or Jumbo in "Chorus Girl's Absolutely Final Performance," a lonely, old circus elephant who decides she's had enough of show business and cruel trainers for one lifetime. In this satirical reprise of Kafka, cats, dogs, and breeding rodents are no longer ordinary beings in the happy home, but actually have the power to destroy the world in which we live."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKtotzsK1eaJKDbVhZ3bKo4FWY0M292844lFF2s3L7mTY_M68nYmqhvcx8jTcXnrfEalCSTqHo7evbOM350pxkrNJQl84qeckpBRA18VOByFwCeTjrbHkQhZE323WWsw4jNU3spVgTEAJKtX64eknZ049slGObfXlBDyz1NhoQdF7f7nn-Vifr_pcFzTo/s430/Census%20Taker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="294" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKtotzsK1eaJKDbVhZ3bKo4FWY0M292844lFF2s3L7mTY_M68nYmqhvcx8jTcXnrfEalCSTqHo7evbOM350pxkrNJQl84qeckpBRA18VOByFwCeTjrbHkQhZE323WWsw4jNU3spVgTEAJKtX64eknZ049slGObfXlBDyz1NhoQdF7f7nn-Vifr_pcFzTo/w137-h200/Census%20Taker.jpg" width="137" /></a></div>5. <b>This Census Taker</b> by <b>China Mieville</b> (2016). I've enjoyed Mieville's style and story - telling very much. I've a few of his books sitting on my bookshelf now.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In a remote house on a hilltop, a lonely boy witnesses a traumatic event. He tries - and fails - to flee. Left alone with his increasingly deranged parent, he dreams of safety, of joining the other children in the town below, of escape.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">When at last a stranger knocks at his door, the boy senses that his days of isolation might be over.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">But by what authority does this man keep the meticulous records he carries? What is the purpose behind his questions? Is he friend? Enemy? Or something else altogether?</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">A novella filled with beauty, terror and strangeness, </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915;">This Census-Taker</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"> is a poignant and riveting exploration of memory and identity."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg82-b5T-hKB215c3IvOV7ZpVdfMXLBqgRxlUQHKBYa3c_Ie-56s0t1y2RgOxgdCwY0mp1y9M3Z4Brf4WSOlJqIM_0P1gGtQM4Q4DK8PUBveiNiT6ijRpXfzgnk3vcvjRfCnfIvszVIAjqJM-1JctqhZGRlVzu-Xp98605XqBzQzZ3geY8A0eYNHTU9Dlk/s410/Western%20Shore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="260" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg82-b5T-hKB215c3IvOV7ZpVdfMXLBqgRxlUQHKBYa3c_Ie-56s0t1y2RgOxgdCwY0mp1y9M3Z4Brf4WSOlJqIM_0P1gGtQM4Q4DK8PUBveiNiT6ijRpXfzgnk3vcvjRfCnfIvszVIAjqJM-1JctqhZGRlVzu-Xp98605XqBzQzZ3geY8A0eYNHTU9Dlk/w127-h200/Western%20Shore.jpg" width="127" /></a></div>6. <b>Annals of the Western Shore - Gifts / Voices / Powers</b> by <b>Ursula K. Le Guin</b> (2017). I hope during my life - time that I will eventually read all of Le Guin's works. I'm making good progress.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ursula K. Le Guin’s Nebula Award–winning young adult fantasy series—gathered for the first time in a deluxe collector’s edition for readers of all ages.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Teenagers struggle to come to terms with their own mysterious and magical gifts as they come-of-age in the far-flung Western Shore.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">This fifth volume in the definitive Library of America edition of Ursula K. Le Guin’s work presents a trilogy of coming-of-age stories set in the Western Shore—a world where young people find themselves struggling not just against racism, prejudice, and slavery, but with how to live with the mysterious and magical gifts they have been given. All three novels feature the generous voice and deeply human concerns that mark all Le Guin’s work, and together they form an elegant anthem to the revolutionary and transformative power of words and storytelling.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">In Gifts , Orrec and Gry will inherit both their families’ domains and their “gifts,” the ability to communicate with animals, or control a mind, or maim or kill with only a word and gesture. Both discover their gifts are not what they thought. In Voices , Memer lives in a city conquered by fundamentalist and superstitious soldiers who have made reading and writing forbidden. But in Memer’s house there is a secret room where the last few books in the city have been hidden. And in the Nebula Award-winning Powers , the young slave Gavir can remember any book after reading it just once. It makes him valuable, but it also makes him a threat. Gav sets out to understand who he is, where he came from, and what his gift means.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">This deluxe edition features Le Guin’s own previously unseen hand-drawn maps. Included in an appendix are essays and interviews about the novels, as well as Le Guin’s pronunciation guide to the names and languages of the Western Shore."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoH7Ein6OLyY6h7bS2qjqlg6ZvIYPYpQ-GEDSJYUq9rc70V9Ouuftwv3wzqUiM5R1mpPpgphE3Wg27_25kA5aOP2gfHgekFJM-IUngsj-KOkGVzguVIe-4tuoMJdh0pkvkQxalRGolpHAeoYXni-cSBZthNAZdiUdyeGGqIr_d9cMnjwkBGzbqR2nctuw/s400/Wild%20Robot%20Escapes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="274" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoH7Ein6OLyY6h7bS2qjqlg6ZvIYPYpQ-GEDSJYUq9rc70V9Ouuftwv3wzqUiM5R1mpPpgphE3Wg27_25kA5aOP2gfHgekFJM-IUngsj-KOkGVzguVIe-4tuoMJdh0pkvkQxalRGolpHAeoYXni-cSBZthNAZdiUdyeGGqIr_d9cMnjwkBGzbqR2nctuw/s320/Wild%20Robot%20Escapes.jpg" width="219" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>and a few others.</b></td></tr></tbody></table>I did get a few more books but I won't go into them in detail. In summary, the last two books in the Wild Robot Trilogy by Peter Brown, one of the Mirrorworld books by Cornelia Funke, the 2nd and 3rd books in the Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony DiTerlizzi, etc.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><b>Just Finished</b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">I've completed 4 books thus far in March.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR1eAldg8EgDK7_Yzkqo3JmTMDjD69LJDBTqfov41pR-Dx9jkaxJ5QCnBU2G2pLl3DnHidvtEE-dsEfSkkTFSx6w38nEe8l3iZUENGeohy6J2FqorS1-uK7ofT9lwq1jBSwkhyphenhyphenjd6u1c6MyrL9o1viTUuDa87g4qQQ2Gte9k9lmXjhHtNFtBGJ7eXSlbU/s400/Wild%20Robot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="263" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR1eAldg8EgDK7_Yzkqo3JmTMDjD69LJDBTqfov41pR-Dx9jkaxJ5QCnBU2G2pLl3DnHidvtEE-dsEfSkkTFSx6w38nEe8l3iZUENGeohy6J2FqorS1-uK7ofT9lwq1jBSwkhyphenhyphenjd6u1c6MyrL9o1viTUuDa87g4qQQ2Gte9k9lmXjhHtNFtBGJ7eXSlbU/w131-h200/Wild%20Robot.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>1. <b>The Wild Robot</b> by <b>Peter Brown</b> (Wild Robot #1 / 2016). I took a chance on this YA story that I saw at my local. I wasn't disappointed. I will enjoy the other two books in the series.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="color: #1e1915;">I saw The Wild Robot in my local book store and even though it's in the YA / middle grade section, it looked interesting. There are currently 3 books in The Wild Robot series. I thought I should check out the first to see if I want to continue. Yes, I do. The next two books are The Wild Robot Escapes and The Wild Robot Protects.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Roz, short for Rozzum Unit 7134 starts this story on a ship in a box in a storm. She seems to be part of a cargo of robots. The ship gets caught in a terrible storm and sinks, taking all but 5 boxes of robots to the bottom. The remaining boxes crash on shore at an island and only the box with Roz survives. The remaining robots are broken apart and the pieces remain on the shore of the island.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">A group of otters sees the parts and when they see Roz's broken crate and Roz inside, they begin to explore and accidently push the button in Roz's skull which activates her. Thus begins Roz's adventure which will culminate in her becoming the Wild robot. At first the island creatures think Roz is a monster but gradually over time she helps various animals, learns their languages and becomes a valuable friend.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">At one point when Roz is climbing a mountain, the rocks break and Roz crashes to the ground and to her shock, she has landed on a goose's next, killing the goose and breaking all but one of the eggs. She seeks the help of another goose and then builds a nest, a home of branches and mud and protects the egg until it hatches and becomes Brightbill, her son.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">There are many adventures in this wonderful story, bad encounters with bears, helpful encounters with the beavers and other animals and a growing love and friendship between the animals and Roz. But there is a mystery about who actually is Roz? What was she built for? Well, that is why you have to check out the story. It's told wonderfully and is complete with drawings by the author Peter Brown; a touching, sometimes sad, but mostly happy story, with an ending that might choke you up. But I'm hoping that the next to books will resolve those sad feelings as Roz continues her adventures. Check it out. Great for young children beginning to explore books and for adults too. (4.0 stars)"</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHFfYx2nzYYsLw21nBKC908wfbkEGDhy-xGI4DU0p8dZCAHoQt2wNP6owQiXNwYn60OkV4h9VzfOVQjfvW17dXxfJXsMh98N3dcHTwpv1Lm1ZhTg1prwrFZoNmW1mYxxJjEooeR1b7GivTlgyGq5TjGfsOFIDjvXdoxUZFjs1tITJnQT1pf278GKfIta0/s2700/Denoison%20Avenue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2700" data-original-width="1800" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHFfYx2nzYYsLw21nBKC908wfbkEGDhy-xGI4DU0p8dZCAHoQt2wNP6owQiXNwYn60OkV4h9VzfOVQjfvW17dXxfJXsMh98N3dcHTwpv1Lm1ZhTg1prwrFZoNmW1mYxxJjEooeR1b7GivTlgyGq5TjGfsOFIDjvXdoxUZFjs1tITJnQT1pf278GKfIta0/w133-h200/Denoison%20Avenue.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>2. <b>Denison Avenue</b> by <b>Christina Wong</b> (Can Lit / 2023). </span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"I've seen Denison Avenue by Christina Wong at my local book store for a few days (weeks?) and kept looking at it. Both of the clerks recommended it highly. It was also one of the books selected by CBC as a 2024 Selection for the Canada Reads list. I also liked the cover with its pencil drawings and just finally thought it was worth checking out. Glad I did.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">The story is set in Toronto, mainly in the Chinatown area. It's protagonist is Wong Cho Sum who as the story starts becomes a widow. Her husband is killed by a hit - and - run driver. So there is your story. We follow Cho Sum as she deals with her grief and with living alone. We follow Cho Sum as she wanders the streets of her area, her new career of picking up cans and bottles from the streets and recycling bins and trading them in to the local beer store. </span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">It seems a simple story but what's good is her interactions with other acquaintances and residents, both good and bad, and her memories of activities with her husband and also her regret at how her neighborhood is changing. This is also displayed in the reverse of the book (the flip side) with pencil drawings of Cho's neighborhood, with Cho pushing her cart, and how the street changes (each page has two pictures, one showing the past and the other what it looks like now to Cho)</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">The writing style is a mix of free verse and poetry. The dialogue is in Chinese Toisan dialect and its </span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">English translation. There is so much to this story; grief, love, determination. It's also neat to see where Cho Sam lives. Simple but rich and emotional. (4.0 stars)"</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiybdHEvbt6w5wp0YtDJyn8hG4aDkekP-oUP8pWoo7tZTrr2kOpFoEY7pTT0ntiEaf7FxxLHuUhhBHCOSaxr2JAhFN2nQk1W-ewKfTLtvYQc2UXY0FIFFIMjwe1pfBGbgClN9nAF3y49hwpZgrg4ELqbSjg3sYpo4eOzDigbq4Qw_Q9hD7jQLj-YCW23S4/s467/American%20Chinese.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiybdHEvbt6w5wp0YtDJyn8hG4aDkekP-oUP8pWoo7tZTrr2kOpFoEY7pTT0ntiEaf7FxxLHuUhhBHCOSaxr2JAhFN2nQk1W-ewKfTLtvYQc2UXY0FIFFIMjwe1pfBGbgClN9nAF3y49hwpZgrg4ELqbSjg3sYpo4eOzDigbq4Qw_Q9hD7jQLj-YCW23S4/w136-h200/American%20Chinese.jpg" width="136" /></a></div>3. <b>American Born Chinese</b> by <b>Gene Luen Yang</b> (2006). I enjoyed Yang's Lunar New Year Love Story so I think I'll explore his work some more.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"I decided to find this graphic novel, [book:American Born Chinese|118944] by [author:Gene Luen Yang|68959] after enjoying [book:Lunar New Year Love Story|123023430] a couple of weeks ago. Quite different, it was still an excellent story, with great artwork by Yang and vibrant coloring by Lark Pien.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Basically you've got three stories intertwined in this novel. Jin Wang has just moved to a new school and is trying to fit into a new school, one where he stands out because of he is different. The 2nd story involves the Monkey King who is rejected by the other Asian gods and wants revenge. The 3rd story is about Danny, another student trying to develop a relationship with one of his schoolmates only to be intruded on by his cousin, Chin-Kee, who is loud and irritating. The book moves between the three stories and finally, neatly puts them all together, in a surprising, neat way, making everything clear.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">It's a story about trying to fit in, make friends, maybe trying to develop a relationship, when your cultures are different. It can be an uncomfortable story at times but as Gene Luen Yang says in his afterword, it's a story he felt had to be told. And even though he tells it from his Asian - American experience of being bullied and ignored, he says that people of all races, sexual orientation and faiths told him they could relate to it. Can I relate to it? I grew up in a very insular environment so maybe not but I hope I can appreciate it and learn from it. And I think that's the point, which is told imaginatively and emotionally. (As a note, American Born Chinese was one of 20 books removed from general circulation by the Mississippi Madison County Schools. It requires parental permission for students to take it out.)</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Check it out. It's worth reading. (4.0 stars)"</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsuloqGD24nQSJsHE_pg0OKgLdb6NUvl3szo9_D9mBp6eor3NtN_tLMdxXZyXmNmHxdzJKkG-zf6J_2TTD3MqPO2b4d7BDq2e0jsWnV6M73XvcwiWLnVhW_9oENNTL2zmWV3uAGEmmWwqoZn4Hfl6yXqqrl1Ec6EPtf32iPOM7WIeOZWp-Jr2w21AttUI/s2560/Space%20Boy%2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1784" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsuloqGD24nQSJsHE_pg0OKgLdb6NUvl3szo9_D9mBp6eor3NtN_tLMdxXZyXmNmHxdzJKkG-zf6J_2TTD3MqPO2b4d7BDq2e0jsWnV6M73XvcwiWLnVhW_9oENNTL2zmWV3uAGEmmWwqoZn4Hfl6yXqqrl1Ec6EPtf32iPOM7WIeOZWp-Jr2w21AttUI/w139-h200/Space%20Boy%2015.jpg" width="139" /></a></div>4. <b>Space Boy, Volume 15</b> by <b>Stephen McCranie</b> (2023). </span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"Space Boy Volume 15 is the 15th installment of the Space Boy saga by Stephen McCranie. I read the first 14 volumes in omnibus editions but couldn't wait for the next omnibus but have since acquired the individual volumes / chapters.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Volume 15 continues the story of Amy and Qiana, both working at First Contact Project (FCP) HQ and now becoming friends and trying to find out what happened to Professor Lesnik. This might provide some link to the strange being that seems to control FCP's bosses. There are side stories involving Amy's friends back in South Pines, as they begin to explore the events when Amy was kidnapped (although agents of FCP say she died) and also Oliver, out in space preparing for contact with the Space Artifact.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">As always it's an interesting story, with excellent drawings and vibrant artwork. Amy's growing friendship with Qiana is a happy situation as I've always liked Qiana. Time will tell if Qiana can shake off her FCP links and become a true friend. As well, it's nice that Oliver is finally talking with Dr. Kim again. Dr. Kim might be able to help. And I like that Cassie and Schaffer are trying to help Tammie remember what happened that night at the prom. They will make a good team.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Volumes 16 and 17 sit on my book shelf so I will get to them soon I'm sure to see what happens next! (3.5 stars)"</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">That's it for now. I haven't started any new books but am close to completing a few. Keep checking out this page for updates. Enjoy the rest of your week. </span></div>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-6968474629417813272024-02-24T20:52:00.000-08:002024-02-24T20:52:10.516-08:00Watching Curling; Providing a Reading Update<p>Jo just made a lovely supper, so tasty. We've spent the day watching curling for the most part. In the middle of the 1 vs 2 Page playoff right now and it's tied 3-3 after 6 ends. Some excellent shots being made.</p><p>So while that's going on, I'm going to provide a quick reading / new book update. Everyone is relaxing anyway. I may jump up from the computer to watch good shots though. Please excuse me.</p><p><b>Just Finished</b></p><p>I've finished 5 books since my last update, so here we go with the latest reviews.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Xtdp3E_0fgwVSDfvhfGIsmkVWTWnHB7gbYUe2Ety2Cwgy0_VNGL8GoJfbrhsOY-EBJMPSHpJ2JPQht5l6bN0dfUeJLSRKeWujWCI2jwgPWO0Bm8hrvfdtltik01AmgKgCWvBDp-tSOA5doelEA29rk0vRSVHZIUQijzBDIubfXbCac6yWBrbxGmQn0I/s1275/Lunar%20Love%20Story.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1275" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Xtdp3E_0fgwVSDfvhfGIsmkVWTWnHB7gbYUe2Ety2Cwgy0_VNGL8GoJfbrhsOY-EBJMPSHpJ2JPQht5l6bN0dfUeJLSRKeWujWCI2jwgPWO0Bm8hrvfdtltik01AmgKgCWvBDp-tSOA5doelEA29rk0vRSVHZIUQijzBDIubfXbCac6yWBrbxGmQn0I/w141-h200/Lunar%20Love%20Story.jpg" width="141" /></a></div>1. <b>Lunar New Year Love Story</b> by <b>Gene Luen Yang</b> (Graphic Novel / 2024). I read this for February romance month.<p></p><p>"I saw Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang and Leuyen Pham the other day when I wandered into my local book store. They had just put it on the shelf and since Valentine's Day was fast approaching I thought it might be good to read. It was more than that.</p><p>Valentina is a young Asian girl living in Oakland with her father. They live alone as Valentina's mother died when she was very young. Valentine's Day has great significance for Valentina as a young girl. Her 'imaginary friend' is Cupid, who helps her write cards each year for Valentina's classmates. Her friend Bernice is not as hooked on Valentine's Day, doesn't believe in love. As Valentina enters high school, she will get many shocks. She is seen as odd when she gives her classmates cards on the day. One boy, Jae, tears her card up. When she gives her father his annual card, he gets very upset and stalks away. Her grandmother shows up, which also surprises Valentina, as there had been no contact with her for four or five years. As if that weren't enough shocks, she discovers something else about her mother.</p><p>Her friend, Cupid, also changes becoming an old man, St Valentine, who tells Valentina that she can keep her heart from being broken if she gives it to him. He tells Valentina that he will return in a year to see if she still wants to give it to him.</p><p>During the next year, a tumultuous one, Valentina will discover love, dragon dancing, more about her mother and father, and fight off St. Valentine. It's a surprisingly (to me) excellent story. The art work is excellent. The characters are fully presented and interesting and sympathetic. The issues are more than just love, but love is a major aspect of the story. The story draws you in immediately, grabs hold of your heart and gives it many tugs and the ending is ultimately very satisfying. Such a nice surprise. (4.5 stars)"</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheyKXc6P8kC2koqtrsejLuno_9YF1k0uGfzWRsPICDm-dCaVFHK6ZWx52TZVXreHginIL0_MZTI7r4XMuoQ6WhMuWyQ-Io2_j2UmCUvpKfnVsf5uJ1xOqxNb7WqCftcgJn83gpM8MIB0p8tGtbbW-72b97cCraozVoujcccBv8Jm5SQ0JzFR5Coq81zBI/s500/Look%20to%20Lady.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="326" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheyKXc6P8kC2koqtrsejLuno_9YF1k0uGfzWRsPICDm-dCaVFHK6ZWx52TZVXreHginIL0_MZTI7r4XMuoQ6WhMuWyQ-Io2_j2UmCUvpKfnVsf5uJ1xOqxNb7WqCftcgJn83gpM8MIB0p8tGtbbW-72b97cCraozVoujcccBv8Jm5SQ0JzFR5Coq81zBI/w131-h200/Look%20to%20Lady.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>2. <b>Look to the Lady</b> by <b>Margery Allingham</b> (Albert Campion #3 / 1931). Part of my Series challenge.<p></p><p>"Look To The Lady by Margery Allingham is the 3rd book in her Albert Campion mystery series and about the 10th book I've enjoyed in the series. Yes, I haven't been reading in sequence. (I don't think it matters all that much). Allingham was one of four British female mystery writers who made up the Queens of Crime during the 'Golden Age of Detective Fiction. The others were Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and Ngaio Marsh. I've enjoyed all of these authors. You should check each of them out.</p><p>So.... Look to the Lady finds gentleman sleuth and his man servant, Lugg (and he is one), trying to help a certain Val Gyrth protect a family heirloom. Val has been living rough in London and while trying to sleep on a park bench one night, he sees an envelope on the ground.. addressed to himself. This leads him to a small late night cafe where he is told to go to a certain address, home to the one and only Albert Campion. However, even this trip is filled with adventure as the cab driver tries to kidnap him.</p><p>Val's father's estate houses an antiquity related to the royalty, the Gyrth Cup, and when the oldest son achieves his 25th year, there is a ceremony to hand over the responsibility for guarding the cup. Campion was hired to find Val, get him home and protect the cup from a gang of thieves who steal such priceless antiquities.</p><p>So there is your story. It's entertaining, peopled with interesting characters, lots of thieves, gypsies, witches... Does the mystery make sense or get resolved... sure... but it's the fun and games that make it entertaining. Campion is an interesting character, somewhat like Dorothy L. Sayers Lord Peter Wimsey. It's worth checking out the series and all of these great Queens of Crime. (3.0 stars)"</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzjPtsAK34GaxqOMvXBZyGjD1KZRfgeAy6I4m9Sm8c-eDIDY_a_sgmchEzDkgdcJn6-i0iB2nYzDkTnnopXWaJZY0Bw9WpgFLUNO2fTHVlONh3-CqKbqhZ21Z8eoYKHW4x4bBJqvoXly8rcZwoJ_wp-zfhMv3n3zgKHn011DhYTYdk2QBjHXbER_UzlsI/s500/Monstress%20Vol%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="334" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzjPtsAK34GaxqOMvXBZyGjD1KZRfgeAy6I4m9Sm8c-eDIDY_a_sgmchEzDkgdcJn6-i0iB2nYzDkTnnopXWaJZY0Bw9WpgFLUNO2fTHVlONh3-CqKbqhZ21Z8eoYKHW4x4bBJqvoXly8rcZwoJ_wp-zfhMv3n3zgKHn011DhYTYdk2QBjHXbER_UzlsI/w134-h200/Monstress%20Vol%202.jpg" width="134" /></a></div>3. <b>Monstress, Vol 2 - Blood</b> by <b>Marjorie M. Liu</b> (Monstress #2 / 2017). Strong fantasy story, confusing but great artwork.<p></p><p>"Monstress, Vol. 2: The Blood is the 2nd graphic novel in the Monstress series by Marjorie M. Liu. There are many things to like about this series and some that are not so good.</p><p>Maika Halfwolf continues her journey to discover the monster inside her and what it is. (It shows itself when it's hungry by coming through her left shoulder. She wants to learn how to control it or to get rid of it. On her journey are the nekomancer cat, Ren, and the little fox. The journey will take them by sea to the Isles of Bones. There are other story lines as well, plots by various Houses, the Dusk throne, the Dawn throne, the Arcanians; humans, monsters, cats, foxes, tigers... Everybody wants a piece of Maika or what she has.</p><p>Yes, it's very confusing and jumps around from the past, the present, to her mother and others. Makes for a confusing story all around which can be frustrating. But the artwork is so excellent and intense and there are some great characters, especially the Little Fox and Ren the cat. There are also neat little tidbits of information about the land and creatures at the end of each chapter, provided by the cat professor Tam Tam. These aspects of the graphics and characters counteract the frustrations about the confusing story. And really, it just makes me want to continue with the series. And I will. Haven is next. (3.5 stars)"</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw5tmfv2r8RGWXBcf4db7OUKjxr_NUTxeiFYS5hG_9wIkxPT9W8wH_gcGKZq_eUE_sU11fnqudFeKrA7jPxvE4ehY9ymRlBLv7MK-xFEQsqxskmEQEn1pddLlK-Y1wigiZJW_TIATQX_CoruUP62_9TmyX674KizGtTsGypd8Dg7bafmjcL_qElY5HLos/s475/9th%20directive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="284" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw5tmfv2r8RGWXBcf4db7OUKjxr_NUTxeiFYS5hG_9wIkxPT9W8wH_gcGKZq_eUE_sU11fnqudFeKrA7jPxvE4ehY9ymRlBLv7MK-xFEQsqxskmEQEn1pddLlK-Y1wigiZJW_TIATQX_CoruUP62_9TmyX674KizGtTsGypd8Dg7bafmjcL_qElY5HLos/w119-h200/9th%20directive.jpg" width="119" /></a></div>4. <b>Ninth Directive</b> by <b>Adam Hall </b>(Quiller #2 / 1966). My February Focus author.<p></p><p>"The Ninth Directive, aka Quiller in Bangkok, by Adam Hall is the 2nd book in the Quiller spy thriller series and the 4th I've completed. Like the others, I enjoyed the book but didn't love it. It's a mix of spycraft, lots of action and introspection. In this book, sometimes the spycraft got to be a bit much.</p><p>So Quiller is approached by Loman to take on a mission in Bangkok, which Loman is heading. They both work for a mysterious British organization, sort of outside the normal bureaucracy, and take on under the radar missions. In this case, a royal personage (they refer to him / her as the Person) is visiting Thailand as part of an Asian visit and a threat has been made to the Person's life. Now there is already tons of security, both Thai and British. What Loman wants is for Quiller to use his past knowledge of Bangkok to try and figure how this attempt might be made and how it can be stopped. </p><p>Firstly, Quiller doesn't want to take the mission but Loman finally persuades him. He narrows down the potential assassins to one and then begins the process of finding him (this being Kuo the Mongolian assassin) and then figuring out his plan. It's a neat process and Quiller is helped by a Thai import / export person, one Pangsapa, and also hindered by people from another British directorate, Mil 5, especially a young woman, Minia.</p><p>Along the way, there is plenty of action and the result leads to a follow-on chase which I won't get into. There is lots of spycraft, the whole 'tagging' (following) and the planning, the communications, the threat assessments. At times I found the story somewhat bogged down in this minutiae. Take Chapter 22 - Bait for example.</p><p>"Reaction time covers three phases: time required to sense the signal, to decide on the correct response, and to respond. Relevant factors: age, state of health, muscle-tone, ....."and on for a few more paragraphs. Now this is interesting to an extent but sometimes you just want to get to the story and the action. It is a spy thriller after all. </p><p>Having said that, it's still an interesting approach to the genre and the twists and turns all made for a neat little story. Try Quiller for yourself. It might be right up your alley. I'll continue with the series. (3.0 stars)."</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzXowYOlOkD6oBV4uXrp1TRz7YxOd_tTk7eZhnGEGEYAOg6DkkfagCM551yoziyZPbBYk0NzP0kD0967x8Kjzl9znklGFrH014R8XnXy_CrFs3iDs8BmD7zef8b-yT_LBKtr8bKOtC51ZUibaed0XsdT8yZCRGTTvuBMi-M937yR90hRejNX6qV04k4Dg/s1500/Liz%20Cheney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="969" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzXowYOlOkD6oBV4uXrp1TRz7YxOd_tTk7eZhnGEGEYAOg6DkkfagCM551yoziyZPbBYk0NzP0kD0967x8Kjzl9znklGFrH014R8XnXy_CrFs3iDs8BmD7zef8b-yT_LBKtr8bKOtC51ZUibaed0XsdT8yZCRGTTvuBMi-M937yR90hRejNX6qV04k4Dg/w129-h200/Liz%20Cheney.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>5. <b>Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning</b> by <b>Liz Cheney</b> (2023). Some of my comments might be a mite political... Oh well.<p></p><p>"(Warning - In my review of this book I may express political opinions. I apologize if any of them offend anyone. They are strictly my thoughts. Feel free to believe what you want. I'll try to confine my comments to a straight book review, but it'll be difficult not to digress somewhat, sometime)</p><p>I followed the Jan 6 Committee hearings with great interest (and fear, considering the lengths Donald Trump was willing to go to stay in power) and when Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning by Liz Cheney came out, I felt a responsibility to read it as well, to see what other information Ms. Cheney might bring to light. I'm a Canadian so I should probably not be worried about American elections but with Trump and his gang trying to get back into power, I think it will affect elections around the world. (Hoping this is my only political digression)</p><p>The book highlights Liz Cheney's work on the Jan 6th Committee and also talks briefly about her losing campaign to retain her seat in Wyoming, plus her thoughts on the GOP and democracy, etc. It's a well-written, well-presented book. I would say that that I probably had heard most of the information from watching the hearings and news analyses of the hearings, but it was interesting to see it laid out so clearly and tidily. I probably don't agree with many of Liz's conservative leanings but I am a kind of Conservative / Liberal hybrid, so who knows. But I do share her belief in democracy and its importance. </p><p>Whether you agree with Liz's politics or no, this is still a must read book and it will be difficult to put down. Please read it. (4.0 stars)"</p><p>*VOTE FOR DEMOCRACY ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE*</p><p><b>Currently Reading</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqtgmDgh8ldqo55K844Tnh4pADSff7jxFp6PyZESj-9zFs67iwthJotgk0n8KfhebZNG4VBBpZcS5NZDtUXJVDeBsr3AkL9iGekNCwVBEG53fDvdSWB9AesAAV50gKkFc3eDyJsXkTtOR9zT8jsgOZ7mL_YVbPJG_Nu5MUK5cQJhmNntRFslH7BEnssVg/s200/Twilight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="124" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqtgmDgh8ldqo55K844Tnh4pADSff7jxFp6PyZESj-9zFs67iwthJotgk0n8KfhebZNG4VBBpZcS5NZDtUXJVDeBsr3AkL9iGekNCwVBEG53fDvdSWB9AesAAV50gKkFc3eDyJsXkTtOR9zT8jsgOZ7mL_YVbPJG_Nu5MUK5cQJhmNntRFslH7BEnssVg/w124-h200/Twilight.jpg" width="124" /></a></div>1. <b>Twiligh</b>t by <b>Peter James</b> (1991). My next non-series book.<p></p><p>"<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;">Three muffled thuds ring from the partially filled grave of the newly wed girl. Only the verger hears them and he dismisses the noise as his imagination. But over the next few days others also hear faint sounds. An exhumation order is granted. Reporter Kate Hemingway sneaks into the small suburban churchyard when the coffin is opened, and the scene she witnesses is so horrific she can never forget it. As she starts work on the story, Kate finds herself caught up in a sinister and macabre cover-up. At the center is a respected anesthetist who has a secret obsession. He believes people can exist outside their bodies and that if he can prove it he will provide the answer to the question that has haunted mankind through the is there life after death? Nothing - and no one - is going to stand in the way of his driving ambition ..."</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjldJV1J-0sSKbkPRELhSQaj1n8bO5XkRboBXa93dI3nUxJ0W7YCrpwhjD_jfVqM-2yGuqaWc9NdXOCVRkCzquQv_5R9fs9m-hJESOq-51kHQcJM3DPwbF8tDbJ5Fm4df3u1EzVDhIr-MRrsrI62XVKH3w_CoVjMyjXdv_WIGrbKcXTp8RsNP3jTUBJjIc/s475/Amateur%20Corpse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="297" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjldJV1J-0sSKbkPRELhSQaj1n8bO5XkRboBXa93dI3nUxJ0W7YCrpwhjD_jfVqM-2yGuqaWc9NdXOCVRkCzquQv_5R9fs9m-hJESOq-51kHQcJM3DPwbF8tDbJ5Fm4df3u1EzVDhIr-MRrsrI62XVKH3w_CoVjMyjXdv_WIGrbKcXTp8RsNP3jTUBJjIc/w125-h200/Amateur%20Corpse.jpg" width="125" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;">2. <b>An Amateur Corpse</b> by <b>Simon Brett</b> (Charles Paris #4 / 1978). Simon Brett is my March focus author; writer of the Charles Paris, Fethering and Mrs. Pargeter mysteries). I hope to read at least one of each.</span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Charles Paris is a part-time detective and professional actor, drawn into the affairs of an amateur theater company. Charles's friend Hugo's wife is murdered, and Hugo is charged with the crime.</span></span></p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Paris takes on the case personally. The solution to the mystery lies in a clever double alibi. An Amateur Corpse is an absorbing and entertaining account of theatrical back staging, back scratching and backbiting."</span></span><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitveyYBZRvRUIfGcCCJzTHkWFeAUjjYU7IrnYtmjaTNKzu_7eka_TRFZTRKQvR-hiF7iw9bZDJuAcmbG1jYdQfK2TCuOSwkdh2WeNEhLoEvj6hxpe2drmrFt1HeQ9zYMJnK7bjioLIJpx09o9tny0DQ0TPtfAVaHyZxx3CxJ0xmL9POetQ1I620eMVtHU/s475/Mrs%20In%20-%20Between.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="293" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitveyYBZRvRUIfGcCCJzTHkWFeAUjjYU7IrnYtmjaTNKzu_7eka_TRFZTRKQvR-hiF7iw9bZDJuAcmbG1jYdQfK2TCuOSwkdh2WeNEhLoEvj6hxpe2drmrFt1HeQ9zYMJnK7bjioLIJpx09o9tny0DQ0TPtfAVaHyZxx3CxJ0xmL9POetQ1I620eMVtHU/w123-h200/Mrs%20In%20-%20Between.jpg" width="123" /></a></div>3. <b>Don't Mess with Mrs. In-Between</b> by <b>Liz Evans</b> (PI Grace Smith #3 / 2015). Part of my series challenge. I like this series. Grace is kind of somewhere in between Kinsey Milhone and Stephanie Plum, with a bit of Kat Colorado thrown in.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When Barbra Delaney comes into Grace Smith's office, looks her in the eye and announces, 'I'm filthy rich and I've decided to make a will leaving the lot to a complete stranger. I've chosen you...', Grace thinks she may be hallucinating. It is, after all, the stuff of which daydreams are made. That is until Barbra hands Grace the photographs of three complete strangers, and tells her to find their names and addresses so that she can will all her dear departed husband's worldly goods to them. But, as Grace tracks down the lucky legatees, she discovers that they all have their own reasons for not wanting her poking around in their lives. When a series of increasingly violent events culminates in a very nasty death, it seems that someone will stop at nothing - not even murder - to stop Grace finding out the truth ..."</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQJm8O8jqyC5WFkgTfy8q1GdAJued-JMU8l5VYxgZ9rfm5b18ihBrfwvS7jMKv9cKh2ejo3Q6Q40dGe48VJWy5uMWkP7WdjXqUjQHCpoaV-HvlWkihm3QiYC7WSXUwFMZxQONYXR5lh8bCLcF92xq791NA2AEceyYZiHlz_AhVPhIRom4OXuHQxTW6jPg/s400/Wild%20Robot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="263" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQJm8O8jqyC5WFkgTfy8q1GdAJued-JMU8l5VYxgZ9rfm5b18ihBrfwvS7jMKv9cKh2ejo3Q6Q40dGe48VJWy5uMWkP7WdjXqUjQHCpoaV-HvlWkihm3QiYC7WSXUwFMZxQONYXR5lh8bCLcF92xq791NA2AEceyYZiHlz_AhVPhIRom4OXuHQxTW6jPg/w131-h200/Wild%20Robot.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>4. <b>The Wild Robot</b> by <b>Peter Brown</b> (Wild Robot #1 / 2016). Another book for my series challenge. I was in the mood for a light read. Enjoying so far.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Can a robot survive in the wilderness?</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is all alone on a remote, wild island. She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is--but she knows she needs to survive. After battling a violent storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island's unwelcoming animal inhabitants.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">As Roz slowly befriends the animals, the island starts to feel like home--until, one day, the robot's mysterious past comes back to haunt her."</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><b>New Books</b></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIlgyrGyKH3pikdhOvFnrMW0NJvhN3EDLI3tefLEsP3Hq3N8FOhr5RG7gRqJdykiZ7oVGocWCjNp83LkC5uhmP2ZzECzKcstFbDpCRAueRUroW1IzBoOvs_xbfqKgDduSFoHgOV734iWPQPejBSaz3X99B8Z4Utho6puRf76FAUtq7ZUPYrDIwUwyfItM/s400/Girl%20with%20the%20Gifts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="263" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIlgyrGyKH3pikdhOvFnrMW0NJvhN3EDLI3tefLEsP3Hq3N8FOhr5RG7gRqJdykiZ7oVGocWCjNp83LkC5uhmP2ZzECzKcstFbDpCRAueRUroW1IzBoOvs_xbfqKgDduSFoHgOV734iWPQPejBSaz3X99B8Z4Utho6puRf76FAUtq7ZUPYrDIwUwyfItM/w131-h200/Girl%20with%20the%20Gifts.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>1. <b>The Girl with all the Gifts </b>by <b>M. R. Carey</b> (Girl with the Gifts #1 / 2014).</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Melanie is a very special girl. Dr. Caldwell calls her "our little genius."</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite, but they don't laugh.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Melanie loves school. She loves learning about spelling and sums and the world outside the classroom and the children's cells. She tells her favorite teacher all the things she'll do when she grows up. Melanie doesn't know why this makes Miss Justineau look sad."</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghfjrCvVJovseSc7mCyvtQJMwGccx1YWtHUW9sSj3g1WGH9-6R_unnrogB-jm67Qlzcb5b3DLuYSWleg-PL6KpGxPWE3-fg5JPQHk-kqIGmECOwdj4nxbUNpYDInYzY5_vGoNano5WkvJ6UDr6IkKI1SXPiORKNFWFBfOz05kDMiAROX0ZQ9L62PM2uFI/s400/wife%20of%20gods.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghfjrCvVJovseSc7mCyvtQJMwGccx1YWtHUW9sSj3g1WGH9-6R_unnrogB-jm67Qlzcb5b3DLuYSWleg-PL6KpGxPWE3-fg5JPQHk-kqIGmECOwdj4nxbUNpYDInYzY5_vGoNano5WkvJ6UDr6IkKI1SXPiORKNFWFBfOz05kDMiAROX0ZQ9L62PM2uFI/w150-h200/wife%20of%20gods.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>2. <b>Wife of the Gods</b> by <b>Kwei Quartey </b>(Darko Dawson #1 / 2009). I previously bought the 3rd or 4th book in this series but if I'm going to start it, I need the 1st.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Introducing Detective Inspector Darko Dawson: dedicated family man, rebel in the office, ace in the field—and one of the most appealing sleuths to come along in years. When we first meet Dawson, he’s been ordered by his cantankerous boss to leave behind his loving wife and young son in Ghana’s capital city to lead a murder investigation: In a shady grove outside the small town of Ketanu, a young woman—a promising medical student—has been found dead under suspicious circumstances. Dawson is fluent in Ketanu’s indigenous language, so he’s the right man for the job, but the local police are less than thrilled with an outsider’s interference. For Dawson, this sleepy corner of Ghana is rife with emotional land mines: an estranged relationship with the family he left behind twenty-five years earlier and the painful memory of his own mother’s inexplicable disappearance. Armed with remarkable insight and a healthy dose of skepticism, Dawson soon finds his cosmopolitan sensibilities clashing with age-old customs, including a disturbing practice in which teenage girls are offered to fetish priests as trokosi, or Wives of the Gods. Delving deeper into the student’s haunting death, Dawson will uncover long-buried secrets that, to his surprise, hit much too close to home."</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">and....</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJfXo-hUAWEw4OneVyC2RMLFWeEL-0YjmgcMx1otSKaqmDFva9dxvAn-8LA5vy44TtE3-HskeWnowT3LHHCpzopJBBC3LUtV2bBJvyU-kkKHp4rlygRgHH29Hk4LnMZP9-AL_nBXSePLw5y2M8iW3KYgN_iAIzit95hDFMSYCimHIjL68-2tWIxua8UFo/s475/Death%20Miser.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="298" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJfXo-hUAWEw4OneVyC2RMLFWeEL-0YjmgcMx1otSKaqmDFva9dxvAn-8LA5vy44TtE3-HskeWnowT3LHHCpzopJBBC3LUtV2bBJvyU-kkKHp4rlygRgHH29Hk4LnMZP9-AL_nBXSePLw5y2M8iW3KYgN_iAIzit95hDFMSYCimHIjL68-2tWIxua8UFo/w126-h200/Death%20Miser.jpg" width="126" /></a></div>3. <b>The Death Miser </b>by <b>John Creasey</b> (Department Z #1 / 1933). I've been enjoying Creasey's (or JJ Marric as one of his pseudonyms) many series; Chief Super Gideon, the Toff, the Baron and I thought I might like to see how this thriller series is.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Millions of lives are at stake if a sinister international conspiracy succeeds. It is down to England’s elite detective agency, Department Z, to make sure this doesn’t happen. They’ve got to keep things quiet too – something that Hon. James Quinion knows only too well – it’s all part and parcel of being a member of the Secret Service.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">‘A home for bachelors with a suicidal turn of mind…’ – Department Z agents ready themselves for this high-profile, high-danger job and James Quinion will find himself right in the firing line and in personal danger – how will he keep this conspiracy under control and under wraps?"</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">There you go. Time to watch the last couple of shots and then take the pups out. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.</span></span></div>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-41170293000782884652024-02-13T14:02:00.000-08:002024-02-13T14:02:52.488-08:00A February 2024 Reading Update... and new books and such.<p>Back to the normal stuff today. It's a nice sunny Tuesday and I did a few errands this morning after I dropped Jo off at work. We've decided to order in a curry for our Valentine's dinner tomorrow night. It's been awhile. It's always tasty.</p><p>I'm finished with my look at our bookshelves and books and now I'm going to return to providing book reviews and synopses of books I'm reading or of new books. This will be my first of February.</p><p><b>New Books</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMDzS9Pbz_NXgpGsLDsNGmjqnVZvFwIyJYLARfffz5l03YtHVEX9PDby73x-DQZ-z2CTNirl9thKK6V3yeXSJ1x_KQOhe92jrOYj1DyYlyeku_pyc-ALn3f8UXCNaMjjdWuMtRmOWECBQt1c2V7E2YS8c0dCm05s66F0u6_6tNhDAT5t-V7WWH9ox1HFA/s348/West%20Takes%20Charge.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="209" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMDzS9Pbz_NXgpGsLDsNGmjqnVZvFwIyJYLARfffz5l03YtHVEX9PDby73x-DQZ-z2CTNirl9thKK6V3yeXSJ1x_KQOhe92jrOYj1DyYlyeku_pyc-ALn3f8UXCNaMjjdWuMtRmOWECBQt1c2V7E2YS8c0dCm05s66F0u6_6tNhDAT5t-V7WWH9ox1HFA/w120-h200/West%20Takes%20Charge.jpg" width="120" /></a></div>1. <b>Inspector West Takes Charge </b>by <b>John Creasey</b> (Inspector West #1 / 1942). I've enjoyed so many of Creasey's crime and thriller series.<p></p><p>"<span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Extortion is the name of the game and the method is to murder anyone who might get in the way. The Dreem factory and much else is at stake. Inspector West has to unravel it all at gun point, but not without difficulty and surprise . ."</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5UcfEjiNNjfki1VucfUuV7qbhyfG6qMkTFOnPwTqG_L8LKnKZeq4dg2Ur1S62mbOnoFdJ6B5RSP5O_kBAG255Gg1-59eHINXY7bQyO4_sk1WaIH2uqVEjI_gkQVMsu5LQx2HDBdMSSifWZ-uRtKJqpuNMom-NtYGjts0QlWs_f-_cQHdmT1VeUdm_HHY/s475/Rules%20of%20magic.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="312" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5UcfEjiNNjfki1VucfUuV7qbhyfG6qMkTFOnPwTqG_L8LKnKZeq4dg2Ur1S62mbOnoFdJ6B5RSP5O_kBAG255Gg1-59eHINXY7bQyO4_sk1WaIH2uqVEjI_gkQVMsu5LQx2HDBdMSSifWZ-uRtKJqpuNMom-NtYGjts0QlWs_f-_cQHdmT1VeUdm_HHY/w131-h200/Rules%20of%20magic.jpg" width="131" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">2. <b>The Rules of Magic</b> by <b>Alice Hoffman</b> (Practical Magic #0.2 / 1977). I read Practical Magic many years ago and didn't realize there were more books in this series.</span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For the Owens family, love is a curse that began in 1620, when Maria Owens was charged with witchery for loving the wrong man.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Hundreds of years later, in New York City at the cusp of the sixties, when the whole world is about to change, Susanna Owens knows that her three children are dangerously unique. Difficult Franny, with skin as pale as milk and blood red hair, shy and beautiful Jet, who can read other people’s thoughts, and charismatic Vincent, who began looking for trouble on the day he could walk.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">From the start Susanna sets down rules for her children: No walking in the moonlight, no red shoes, no wearing black, no cats, no crows, no candles, no books about magic. And most importantly, never, ever, fall in love. But when her children visit their Aunt Isabelle, in the small Massachusetts town where the Owens family has been blamed for everything that has ever gone wrong, they uncover family secrets and begin to understand the truth of who they are. Back in New York City each begins a risky journey as they try to escape the family curse.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">The Owens children cannot escape love even if they try, just as they cannot escape the pains of the human heart. The two beautiful sisters will grow up to be the revered, and sometimes feared, aunts in </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915;">Practical Magic</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">, while Vincent, their beloved brother, will leave an unexpected legacy."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_4fheDR3UMRCeYtVh0yjNtytjs-OeC8a4P6V2yjwJiTt73hPkAZxyTigpLpxP-MG4jRfXmaQ0AqOdFB9Yuu90fsNDVVsqR5VD4lwWMkSTIsK9TwIteVYl_6y1j-us8avpCgBfu9J3bKAra65YQ_M8xEDsVkV9d-jU2VIi8w5W5EqPfwEyFkUL-lq_KlA/s475/Barrayar.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="282" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_4fheDR3UMRCeYtVh0yjNtytjs-OeC8a4P6V2yjwJiTt73hPkAZxyTigpLpxP-MG4jRfXmaQ0AqOdFB9Yuu90fsNDVVsqR5VD4lwWMkSTIsK9TwIteVYl_6y1j-us8avpCgBfu9J3bKAra65YQ_M8xEDsVkV9d-jU2VIi8w5W5EqPfwEyFkUL-lq_KlA/w119-h200/Barrayar.jpg" width="119" /></a></div>3. <b>Barrayar</b> by <b>Lois McMaster Bujold</b> (Vorkosigan Saga #7 / 1991). I read Shards of Honor in this series and really enjoyed. From what I see, Barrayar is the 2nd book chronologically in the series. I'm reading it next anyway.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Believing her warship days are over after she defeats the Barrayaran militarists and marries their leader, former commander Cordelia Naismith is astounded by the role her unborn son will play in a world on the brink of civil war."</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8eutbudNT-wX1_zWrRxcMMOyaU2uTeTZ9YOYdxUEBi4Kq99wf9okvIPwFUZgKkfeiefuRoeumnFwSdKiSYRKLw04_VrSjBEWsv-iQ-pGcAMrbKl5McKjM-slfoWYHTOoqbte2U3PE0P1XOOd-OeoDUT2E9ctoNUTAjzW4nf23YME4EDotD_fXSc2OP0Q/s473/mindworlds.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8eutbudNT-wX1_zWrRxcMMOyaU2uTeTZ9YOYdxUEBi4Kq99wf9okvIPwFUZgKkfeiefuRoeumnFwSdKiSYRKLw04_VrSjBEWsv-iQ-pGcAMrbKl5McKjM-slfoWYHTOoqbte2U3PE0P1XOOd-OeoDUT2E9ctoNUTAjzW4nf23YME4EDotD_fXSc2OP0Q/w134-h200/mindworlds.jpg" width="134" /></a></div>4. <b>Mindworlds</b> by <b>Phyllis Gotlieb</b> (Lyhhrt Trilogy #3 / 2002). My plan eventually is to read everything that Gotlieb has written in the Sci Fi genre. She is always a favorite.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">How can you stop a conspiracy of telepaths? The alien Lyhhrt are powerful enough to read the human mind; if they find you know too much, they can erase your memory, or simply stop your heart. The normally peaceful Lyhhrt society has been splintered by technological change, the bitter legacy of their exploitation by the Zamos crime family. Now a few renegade Lyhhrt, driven mad by isolation from their group mind, seem to be planning terrible crimes--or are they again being used as deadly tools in someone else's scheme?</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">When the illicit corporation created by Zamos collapsed, it disrupted the lives of heroes as well as villains. With gambling dens shut down, gladiator Ned Gaddes has nowhere to fight. Beautiful Lorrice had hoped to sell her ESP talents to Zamos, but was forced to sell her body instead. And on the planet Khagodis, scholarly Hasso will be forced to leave his archives and unravel the shadowy web that has entangled their fate with the Lyhhrt's.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">The struggle that ensues provides the ultimate test of their resources - Ned's savvy toughness, Lorrice's psychic insight, and the fact that even a gentle Khagodi like Hasso could go head-to-head with a dinosaur. Like the best science fiction, Mindworlds is simultaneously exciting and thought provoking. Gotlieb offers a satisfyingly complex look at the ambiguous consequences of toppling even the most evil of empires, and the sacrifices that ordinary people must make to prevent the vacuum of power from being filled by equally corrupt forces."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><b>Just Finished</b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">(I've completed six books in February, 3 by Ursula K. Le Guin as part of my 12 + 4 challenge in which I'm trying to read 16 of her books this year.)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaJqE31Y9IXyqf9JXg4JdP65LIEXb43gKJ8Th2QRFGwcUA2A3JZQHo0a_7kzy-Kb2bO5eJvUsABqfGidG7uE7TYrhRqyllKRPxjq9-W80CHMNfQ-jFGYs4dGGCPJLfhy2aif0s5MUNDZ165tf4115zN-Yi7PPRI6vhA7Fx9ZPZhHor_xBtwc9GnGkKErU/s444/Planet%20of%20Exile.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="265" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaJqE31Y9IXyqf9JXg4JdP65LIEXb43gKJ8Th2QRFGwcUA2A3JZQHo0a_7kzy-Kb2bO5eJvUsABqfGidG7uE7TYrhRqyllKRPxjq9-W80CHMNfQ-jFGYs4dGGCPJLfhy2aif0s5MUNDZ165tf4115zN-Yi7PPRI6vhA7Fx9ZPZhHor_xBtwc9GnGkKErU/w119-h200/Planet%20of%20Exile.jpg" width="119" /></a></div>1. <b>Planet of Exile</b> by <b>Ursula K. Le Guin </b>(Hainish Cycle #2 / 1966).</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="color: #1e1915;">Planet of Exile is the 2nd book in Ursula K. Le Guin Hainish Cycle Sci Fi series. Winter is coming to the planet of Askatevar, The planet circles a dying sun and the year lasts 60 earth years, so winter is 15 years. The Tevars are a race that have lived on the planet since the beginning and they are now in their winter home, building their Winter City where they will hunker down for the season until they can come out again in Spring.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"> </span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Rolery, a young girl, one of the daughters of the Tevar leader, Wold, is avoiding work and exploring, heading to the city of the Farborn, an off planet race, part of the League of Planet, who arrived at Askatevar 600 years ago to see if the races of the planet had enough know how to become members of the League. But a war with a Dark Evil meant that all of their ships had to leave to defend the League, leaving behind a small group of Farborn... as they call themselves, 'Men'. The Farborn have lived in relative harmony with the Tevar people but now their leader Jacob Agat, has a warning. Another race, the Gaal has joined all of its tribes and is bent on destroying the Tevar and Farborn before Winter comes.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">There is the gist of the story. As well, there is love story developing between Rolery and Jacob that will affect their possible alliance. Jacob is trying to persuade Wold to leave the Winter City and head back into the mountains to shift the Gaal away from their cities because he fears the destruction of both. His relationship with a Tevar is not permitted and means that it will affect his ability to persuade the Tevar to fight with his people.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Makes sense? I do have some difficulty sometime putting stories like this down succinctly.😒🤔</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">It's a very short story that moves along rapidly from the initial contact between Rolery and Jacob and the battle to save the Tevar and Farborn from the rampaging Gaal. It's kind of breath-taking but at the same time very thoughtful in its discussion of the relationship between Farborn and Tevar, how the Farborn are not able to force their technology on a planet's people until they demonstrate abilities themselves (Star Trek much?) and how the Farborn are forgetting their own past as they live in isolation on this planet. Interesting characters. Interesting interactions and lots of action. An excellent story and as the 2nd book in the Hainish Cycle, it provides more information on the League of planets and their efforts to explore other planets. A better written story than Rocannon's World as Le Guin seemed to find her stride as she explored this series in more depth. (4.0 stars)"</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR22QF3ivvPFGGuOxPb9tuBNy61LTq3Mt_2nuwCjc9RpcQUAbYjQjvFcHuny3HBqZT1Ee56OCQ_5wQ00GdqtMMDVxkknMzKv3EwZ5xq3Ri7thqQUXWhicSSzeXt__dLu77v_dRwBOf3k3Ke2lEXWM64Rs4ZVZbu83ZYBrsfweMruJr8ecHqan0EoNj_Dw/s475/Very%20Far%20Away.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="309" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR22QF3ivvPFGGuOxPb9tuBNy61LTq3Mt_2nuwCjc9RpcQUAbYjQjvFcHuny3HBqZT1Ee56OCQ_5wQ00GdqtMMDVxkknMzKv3EwZ5xq3Ri7thqQUXWhicSSzeXt__dLu77v_dRwBOf3k3Ke2lEXWM64Rs4ZVZbu83ZYBrsfweMruJr8ecHqan0EoNj_Dw/w130-h200/Very%20Far%20Away.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>2. <b>Very Far Away from Anywhere Else</b> by <b>Ursula K. Le Guin</b> (1976).</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"</span><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Very Far Away from Anywhere Else by :Ursula K. Le Guin, originally published in 1976, is atypical of the usual books I read by LeGuin, those being fantasy and Sci Fi. This is purely Young Adult fiction, a simple, beautiful story told from the perspective of high schooler, 17-year old Owen Thomas Griffiths. Owen tells his story into a tape recorder and transcribes later.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">It's not too difficult to describe, although I'm sure I'll just cover the barest surface level of the story. But here goes. Owen is a nerd and finds high school difficult. He has a few friends but it's mainly on the young man joking level. He likes the sciences, enjoys analyzing and wants to go to MIT or Cal Tech, maybe to study psychology.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">His father buys him a new car for his 17th birthday and Owen resists driving it to school as he feels it's just makes him 'one of the crowd', something he doesn't really want. Coming back from school on a very rainy day, he takes the bus and sits beside Natalie Fields, a girl he's seen but doesn't know that well. They seem to hit it off and later that night when Owen is feeling adrift, he goes for a drive, stops outside her home and spends the evening in her room, talking, more talking and listening to her play her viola (she is a music student).</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Their friendship hits off but something will happen that changes everything. So I'll leave it at that. It's not drastic or traumatic really but it is something that has a profound affect on Owen. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Simply told, very readable but also very emotional and quite excellent. Check it out. Have your teenage kids check it out. (5.0 stars)"</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeJAygZduu2cn-SealiDaO12xm9VmFe1Ixamfr3UCYSlPA8Z-irkSWGrMNpRBw0lIyTzpnPBsLtCHqq2IbDBhOS5T1nht2ft4Ady9dvzty-A8jIo8FxZgEVUmRZBfwn8Fxj8APEwQDCsz7BKgxXRV3PHqKsFh4Px8Vo8epPWyutDCMjgLZpnJwWpIH-vo/s356/Beginning%20Place.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="216" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeJAygZduu2cn-SealiDaO12xm9VmFe1Ixamfr3UCYSlPA8Z-irkSWGrMNpRBw0lIyTzpnPBsLtCHqq2IbDBhOS5T1nht2ft4Ady9dvzty-A8jIo8FxZgEVUmRZBfwn8Fxj8APEwQDCsz7BKgxXRV3PHqKsFh4Px8Vo8epPWyutDCMjgLZpnJwWpIH-vo/w121-h200/Beginning%20Place.jpg" width="121" /></a></div>3. <b>The Beginning Place</b> by <b>Ursula K. Le Guin</b> (1980).</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">"</span></span><span style="color: #1e1915;">In 2024, I've decided that I will focus on the works of Ursula K. Le Guin (amongst other reading challenges. The Beginning Place is my fourth read, one of Le Guin's standalone novels, originally published in 1980.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">It tells the story of two disparate people, Hugh and Irena, both struggling and unsatisfied in the world, who meet each other in separate, strange place 'across the creek'. They will ultimately come together to help save the world of Tembreabrezi.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">The story starts with Hugh. He is a frustrated young man, still living with his mother, who controls his life, and works at a local grocery store as a checker. On a particular day, instead of going home, he goes for a long walk and after crossing a creek, finds himself in a quiet, peaceful place. Returning home, he realizes that time has sort of stopped or slowed down tremendously while in his sanctuary. He begins to go there regularly, leaving for work early, telling his mother that he's out jogging, and enjoying the fresh water and just the peace of the spot.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Switch to Irena who it turns out, has been going to the same spot for a long time. In fact she has explored much further into Tembreabrezi and discovered the Mountain town and learned their language and enjoys the company of the locals. She is distressed when she discovers that Hugh has crossed over as she doesn't want to share.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Something dark is happening in Tembreabrezi though and ultimately, both will go on a further journey to try and save their friends. The last half of the story involves this journey and the final result. It's a neat little story, filled with emotion and strong feelings. It's not perfect mind you as some things are left unsaid. But it's got some neat characters and is a fascinating story, easy to read and leaves you satisfied with the resolution. It shows the depth and breadth of Le Guin's writing styles and her imagination. (4.0 stars)"</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTF5fY6d_ZB22-iMCQgPJlJ6fMl8ZA19uCmvEbfI6kVDlI0lR9Cae7OaWMUpRy5XKqrsnd0OOLrSueTlTOADtQZ_N9kFmlvR68qLUKBE9164nbEq90rVO6unVuAqEkH_4BBoQUiBc80h9hI0CcTqcZYoqDzXCL5Y_fFw0LyV5r26Hv8SlmqUk5rDeLb9s/s473/Field%20Guide.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTF5fY6d_ZB22-iMCQgPJlJ6fMl8ZA19uCmvEbfI6kVDlI0lR9Cae7OaWMUpRy5XKqrsnd0OOLrSueTlTOADtQZ_N9kFmlvR68qLUKBE9164nbEq90rVO6unVuAqEkH_4BBoQUiBc80h9hI0CcTqcZYoqDzXCL5Y_fFw0LyV5r26Hv8SlmqUk5rDeLb9s/w134-h200/Field%20Guide.jpg" width="134" /></a></div>4. <b>The Field Guide</b> by <b>Tony DiTerlizzi & Holly Black</b> (The Spiderwick Chronicles #1 / 2003). I bought this after reading Holly Blacks Good Companions graphic novel. This is a middle school / YA fantasy series. I enjoyed this first book and have ordered the next 2.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"The Field Guide by Tony DiTerlizzi & Holly Black is the first book in the Spiderwick Chronicles written as a combined effort of the 2 authors. It is a young adult / middle grade fantasy in the same ilk as the Narnia books... or so it seems after one book, or maybe more like Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle or the Boggart books by Susan Cooper. Anyway, you can judge for yourselves if you try the book. I'd enjoyed some of Holly Black's work, having completed her graphic novel series, The Good Companions. So it was with interest that I decided to give this series a try.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">I have to say I enjoyed this first book very much. The Grace family, mother Helen, oldest daughter, Mallory and twins Jared and Simon have been forced to move to the old Spiderwick estate in Maine. The father of the family has abandoned them and due to family issues (it seems that due to the separation, Jared has been acting up in school), Helen feels that a fresh start is necessary. The estate is empty as Aunt Lucinda seems to be in an asylum (more on that in later books possibly)</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">The Spiderwick estate is run down, problems with the roof and only 3 bedrooms are currently available. Jared hears something in the walls and the children investigate while Helen is getting groceries. They discover a secret room upstairs and seem to have disturbed what was living in the walls. Various incidents (I won't go into detail) happen in the next days, all blamed on Jared.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Jared finds a clue in the secret room and then finds a chest in the attic which has a book, The Field Guide, which tells about faeries of all sorts. This will lead to more adventures, I think... (future books!!!)</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">It's an interesting introduction, gets right to the point and right into the family, the story. A more than acceptable intro to the characters, their issues and their new home. And more importantly, it makes you want to continue to see what happens next. (4.0 stars)"</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSR5dJtGNZCDI6MDhaX_uJt9YxRza0U_XzteN2oGLiUbyxlT8lnTL3Rzf6guHegUPtUUEumOPCwdPjB7gXi7FDlkDeoeGeCKkqxCGtVTrWo_7-PJZAgi267GnqZ8O3VkPzFdBvTHDQyo_1OmLTYjxNZAULGxunGE6U9ddm_MN-9oU-eift7Y4ZLGgtDME/s4128/Fall%20of%20Sparrow.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4128" data-original-width="2322" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSR5dJtGNZCDI6MDhaX_uJt9YxRza0U_XzteN2oGLiUbyxlT8lnTL3Rzf6guHegUPtUUEumOPCwdPjB7gXi7FDlkDeoeGeCKkqxCGtVTrWo_7-PJZAgi267GnqZ8O3VkPzFdBvTHDQyo_1OmLTYjxNZAULGxunGE6U9ddm_MN-9oU-eift7Y4ZLGgtDME/w113-h200/Fall%20of%20Sparrow.jpg" width="113" /></a></div>5. <b>The Fall of the Sparrow </b>by <b>Nigel Balchin</b> (1955). I got this because I'd enjoyed Balchin's The Small Back Room very much. But unfortunately, this one didn't do it for me. I didn't finish and provided no rating.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"Unfortunately, The Fall Of The Sparrow by Nigel Balchin was a Not Finish (NF) for me. It's too bad because I enjoyed a previous book The Small Back Room very much. Could I have finished it. Sure, it wasn't too long of a book, 300 pages, but I didn't particularly like any of the characters and really, the story didn't seem to be going anywhere. Too easy to put down.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Basically, the story is about one Jason Pellew and follows his life from childhood to adulthood. It starts with his being in court and sentenced for crime against friends and acquaintances. The story then moves into his childhood and where I gave up, he was in college. The story is told by a childhood friend, Payne, who runs into Jason throughout his life it seems. </span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Anyway... that's about all I can tell you. It's probably a better book than I give it credit for and ultimately I might have liked it more if I'd finished it. So, No rating (NR) and a DNF from me."</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFWmQ6RaV_RsUg9I5DS9Gyy7vjUCWPnSYxPaAHr04uDOgaPlWNachSjHVxMRpD6oPA7NsscCKA186ak5AieoAyZyajBlPsf_RhSXA4L5ZBu8jtJngynIyVlq5B4UURqN_3xoPJPF6oxfMjpicn0RkaPxQJPNYrbhKYIYWAY-HsJumO8swYfxEu6s3oOOs/s2560/Lore%20Vol%205.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1991" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFWmQ6RaV_RsUg9I5DS9Gyy7vjUCWPnSYxPaAHr04uDOgaPlWNachSjHVxMRpD6oPA7NsscCKA186ak5AieoAyZyajBlPsf_RhSXA4L5ZBu8jtJngynIyVlq5B4UURqN_3xoPJPF6oxfMjpicn0RkaPxQJPNYrbhKYIYWAY-HsJumO8swYfxEu6s3oOOs/w156-h200/Lore%20Vol%205.jpg" width="156" /></a></div>6. <b>Lore Olympus</b> by <b>Rachel Smythe</b> (Lore #5 / 2023). I'm really enjoying this graphic novel series about the Greek gods.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"I've enjoyed the Lore Olympus graphic novel series since I decided to take a chance on Volume 1 a couple of years ago. Lore Olympus: Volume Five by Rachel Smythe contains Chapters 76 - 104 of the series which basically focuses on the romance between the Goddess of Spring, Demeter and the Lord of the Underworld, Hades.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">It's an ongoing story with the two moving forward and then backward in their potential relationship. In the last book, Persephone, who is interning in the Underworld, gets Hades to agree to keep their relationship on a strictly businesslike basis even though both really don't want that. This book commences with Hades breaking off his relationship with the nymph Minthe, who works as his secretary. He basically wants to be free should Persephone change her mind... and in this volume, there are indications of a relationship that will move closer.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Minthe with the help of Thanatos, another of Hades employees, and Thetis, a nymph who has had a relationship with Zeus (Yup, this series abound with relationships. They are the Greek gods after all) tries to find some dirt on Persephone so she can win Hades back. There is a back story that is very interesting about Persephone and is slowly being brought out.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Oh yes... and then there is Apollo who, in a previous volume, forced his attentions on Persephone, much to her shame. He still wants to have some sort of relationship with her, maybe just to ensure she says nothing about what he did. (Fair warning, there are some powerful themes in this series. In fact, Rachel Smythe does provide a content warning at the beginning of each book).</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">So... as the story progresses, Zeus gets involved at the instigation of Thetis, Hera also gets involved at the request of Artemis and Persephone disappears, leading to a search by Hades and Hecate and others. And there will be a very surprising ending, meaning I'll have to stew until mid 2024 for Volume 6!!!</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">The story can often be confusing as the gods have this habit of changing their appearance depending on their emotions. The artwork is colorful and quite powerful. There are many excellent characters; my favorites being Hecate, Artemis and Hermes. It's a neat look at the gods and always an entertaining read. (4.0 stars)"</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><b>Currently Reading</b></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw3h6j8mQxzxLTY-hLuqQKS3h57ROVqerCuZxOVLhb7p5g_Z7NEFFfN5ef9Hh_tHqGhpxdrYShTius_xTVff43s4uLHnBZNvHYWD2dgiEeBovDv810TW2Z701rG4cVxWDBX5rO5vwXqb7MyGj2udCQ664oEXMn8LLQHy2J3ZtQoLoLO8ALlqJWGM8h1vQ/s400/Orsinia.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="254" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw3h6j8mQxzxLTY-hLuqQKS3h57ROVqerCuZxOVLhb7p5g_Z7NEFFfN5ef9Hh_tHqGhpxdrYShTius_xTVff43s4uLHnBZNvHYWD2dgiEeBovDv810TW2Z701rG4cVxWDBX5rO5vwXqb7MyGj2udCQ664oEXMn8LLQHy2J3ZtQoLoLO8ALlqJWGM8h1vQ/w127-h200/Orsinia.jpg" width="127" /></a></div>1. <b>12 + 4 Challenge (Ursula K. Le Guin)</b>. <b>The Complete Orsinia: Malafrena / Stories and Songs</b> (2016).</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">In a career spanning half a century, Ursula K. Le Guin has produced a body of work that testifies to her abiding faith in the power and art of words. She is perhaps best known for imagining future intergalactic worlds in brilliant books that challenge our ideas of what is natural and inevitable in human relations—and that celebrate courage, endurance, risk-taking, and above all, freedom in the face of the psychological and social forces that lead to authoritarianism and fanaticism. It is less well known that she first developed these themes in the richly imagined historical fiction collected in this volume, which inaugurates the </span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915;">Library of America</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"> edition of her works.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915;">The Complete Orsinia</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"> gathers for the first time the entire body of work set in the imaginary central European nation of Orsinia: the early novel </span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915;">Malafrena</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">, begun in the 1950s but not published until 1979, the related stories originally published in </span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915;">Orsinian Tales</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"> (1976), and additional stories and songs. In a new introduction written for this volume, Le Guin describes the breakthrough that led to her first novel: “Most of what I read drew me to write about Europe; but I knew it was foolhardy to write fiction set in Europe if I’d never been there. At last it occurred to me that I might get away with it by writing about a part of Europe where nobody had been but me.” So Orsinia was established, a country, like its near neighbors Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Romania, with a long and vivid history of oppression, art, and revolution.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">An epic meditation on the meaning of hope and freedom, love and duty, </span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915;">Malafrena</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"> takes place from 1825 to 1830, when Orsinia is a part of the Austrian empire. Itale Sorde, the idealistic heir to Val Malafrena, an estate in the rural western provinces, leaves home against his father’s wishes to work as a journalist in the cosmopolitan capital city of Krasnoy, where he plays an integral part in the revolutionary politics that are roiling Europe.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Thirteen additional stories trace the history of Orsinia from the twelfth century, when it first emerges as an independent kingdom, to 1989, when its repressive Stalinist government falls in an Orsinian Velvet Revolution. The poem “Folksong from the Montayna Province,” Le Guin’s first published work, joins two never before published songs in the Orsinian language.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">The volume also features a newly researched chronology of Le Guin’s life and career, and detailed notes. The beautiful full-color endpaper map of Orsinia is drawn by Le Guin herself."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS7lYDu1yxHjmZ-jmplgu7FaXIzeqnWwC8c92KfIYTgM_r9FRHU-Kfvupy5WMvcuuqX1HNGwWpQr7kIO3tPxMviM1xFkk6l3TPacDxyS8d1WXQTTXwxwBVIr73Jkebdmx7yffdTqANsplww9DvE4qwCZBpRzoy7NpkUfbyiO2bfQ27lWrO5H1WKBlQ6rY/s500/Look%20to%20Lady.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="326" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS7lYDu1yxHjmZ-jmplgu7FaXIzeqnWwC8c92KfIYTgM_r9FRHU-Kfvupy5WMvcuuqX1HNGwWpQr7kIO3tPxMviM1xFkk6l3TPacDxyS8d1WXQTTXwxwBVIr73Jkebdmx7yffdTqANsplww9DvE4qwCZBpRzoy7NpkUfbyiO2bfQ27lWrO5H1WKBlQ6rY/w131-h200/Look%20to%20Lady.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>2. <b>My Series Challenge - Starting, continuing and finishing any series</b>. Look to the Lady by Margery Allingham (Albert Campion #3 / 1931).</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Finding himself the victim of a botched kidnapping attempt, Val Gyrth suspects that he might be in a spot of trouble. Unexpected news to him – but not to the mysterious Mr. Campion, who reveals that the ancient Chalice entrusted to Val’s family is being targeted by a ruthless ring of thieves."</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2fNq3WjyMPd83-R5qfcBdhNTqVmL0MgjUlLPxbz-U5JoJjCxF2lYY0NLnrrot89NHyd3qtjb6S3N2ObQFLePhSzBaUydxxyaZTxxFaod2SxlAV36bIRCX2wm-7lpBgi8BYeAYsxB3g_Ufu7xFbj3WVaBbT9-7towTqhk-BYD2lg30RPoarUMix06H3zc/s1500/Liz%20Cheney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="969" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2fNq3WjyMPd83-R5qfcBdhNTqVmL0MgjUlLPxbz-U5JoJjCxF2lYY0NLnrrot89NHyd3qtjb6S3N2ObQFLePhSzBaUydxxyaZTxxFaod2SxlAV36bIRCX2wm-7lpBgi8BYeAYsxB3g_Ufu7xFbj3WVaBbT9-7towTqhk-BYD2lg30RPoarUMix06H3zc/w129-h200/Liz%20Cheney.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>3. <b>My Non-Series Challenge - Any genre</b>. <b>Oath and Honor; A Memoir and a Warning</b> by <b>Liz Cheney</b> (2023). What I've read so far has been so scary.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A gripping first-hand account from inside the halls of Congress as Donald Trump and his enablers betrayed the American people and the Constitution--leading to the violent attack on our Capitol on January 6th, 2021—by the House Republican leader who dared to stand up to it.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">In the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump and many around him, including certain other elected Republican officials, intentionally breached their oath to the they ignored the rulings of dozens of courts, plotted to overturn a lawful election, and provoked a violent attack on our Capitol. Liz Cheney, one of the few Republican officials to take a stand against these efforts, witnessed the attack first-hand, and then helped lead the Congressional Select Committee investigation into how it happened. In Oath and Honor , she tells the story of this perilous moment in our history, those who helped Trump spread the stolen election lie, those whose actions preserved our constitutional framework, and the risks we still face."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPRS7aMi2pjgwT2kAa447OMvNmHV2haZjhuJzW8IVjc7hRwzyxyccJ7XettztULzSkDJBBkU36ZGl9I2K4mWcf4kwEEAwyEqzkYcOYqQNZVOu4nVHDAe4aoDgSmjw0pZoTpWm6Dd-d9Xl50nC90zD5TVqy3NRC5G9dnJiDfOVb618HtEAZRoNH9Qs_gto/s475/White%20Road.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="295" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPRS7aMi2pjgwT2kAa447OMvNmHV2haZjhuJzW8IVjc7hRwzyxyccJ7XettztULzSkDJBBkU36ZGl9I2K4mWcf4kwEEAwyEqzkYcOYqQNZVOu4nVHDAe4aoDgSmjw0pZoTpWm6Dd-d9Xl50nC90zD5TVqy3NRC5G9dnJiDfOVb618HtEAZRoNH9Qs_gto/w124-h200/White%20Road.jpg" width="124" /></a></div>4. </span><b style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;">Tome Challenge - Any book over 500 pages</b><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;">. </span><b style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;">The White Road</b><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"> by </span><b style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;">John Connolly </b><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;">(Charlie Parker #4 / 2003). Very </span><span style="color: #1e1915;">interesting</span><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"> so far.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;">"J</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">ohn Connolly thrilled readers with his bestselling novels, "Every Dead Thing, Dark Hollow," and "The Killing Kind." Now he delivers spellbinding suspense as Charlie Parker races to unravel a brutal crime committed in the Deep South. After years of suffering unfathomable pain and guilt over the murders of his wife and daughter, private detective Charlie Parker has finally found some measure of peace. As he and his lover, Rachel, are awaiting the birth of their first child and settling into an old farmhouse in rural Maine, Parker has found the kind of solace often lost to those who have been touched by true evil.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">But darkness soon descends when Parker gets a call from Elliot Norton, an old friend from his days as a detective with the NYPD. Now practicing law in Charleston, South Carolina, Elliot is defending a young black man accused of raping and killing his white girlfriend, the daughter of a powerful Southern millionaire. Reluctantly, Parker agrees to help Elliot and by doing so ventures into a living nightmare, a bloody dreamscape haunted by the specter of a hooded woman and a black car waiting for a passenger who never arrives. Beginning as an investigation into a young woman's death, it is a fast-moving descent into an abyss where forces conspire to destroy all that Parker holds dear."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlJB_U3CPEgaWkXQaq_iiy6P9HqJchOtiTYsBQ0XLHHlYZn7VItGpi4FbhpNFj1y5Xxui-tCb4tZ6-6GOEGfeCT24d0mKdhzogYGPuZQ6VA_XCz9OOlfO5VvdELMPnTX0wJw5H-26vgUTpiU3k1nofOBdpJdW-akcVW_72YpKnCSkjwA-9FaauPsad_4Q/s475/9th%20directive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="284" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlJB_U3CPEgaWkXQaq_iiy6P9HqJchOtiTYsBQ0XLHHlYZn7VItGpi4FbhpNFj1y5Xxui-tCb4tZ6-6GOEGfeCT24d0mKdhzogYGPuZQ6VA_XCz9OOlfO5VvdELMPnTX0wJw5H-26vgUTpiU3k1nofOBdpJdW-akcVW_72YpKnCSkjwA-9FaauPsad_4Q/w119-h200/9th%20directive.jpg" width="119" /></a></div>5. <b>Monthly Focus Authors</b> (one author each month whose books stack my shelves) <b>February - Adam Hall</b>. <b>The 9th Directive</b> (Quiller #2 / 1966).</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The setting is Thailand. A very important representative of the Queen is scheduled to visit Bangkok on a good-will tour. A threat has been made against his life, and somewhere amidst the golden spires awaits a deadly assassin.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The top-secret British espionage bureau feels ordinary security precautions are not sufficient, so they call in agent Quiller. He's a cynical loner, but the only man capable of tracking down the would-be killer. The tale is complex, set at a breathless pace!"</span></p>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-22850260630963772772024-02-10T14:00:00.000-08:002024-02-10T14:00:07.807-08:00For Janice - Books Part 20 (The Final Post and then we get back to regularly scheduled posting)<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoYcfid2yHULhL9NjNcK69_xSzgRXjtsQ6HfA5a50nu2H-cUaiQG5fznM5Rmp9aFm5YjTcinMd0cCoUQKtNRnN13-guhirtvln2fr8oBMUXppnRL8yclc6W-Inmdiaksr0DKEI3GcysI7pP0P_Fw3r532TPUaoW0EjzZxYZVDqUDs7QGih8M8kYRARB_0/s3648/Study_5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoYcfid2yHULhL9NjNcK69_xSzgRXjtsQ6HfA5a50nu2H-cUaiQG5fznM5Rmp9aFm5YjTcinMd0cCoUQKtNRnN13-guhirtvln2fr8oBMUXppnRL8yclc6W-Inmdiaksr0DKEI3GcysI7pP0P_Fw3r532TPUaoW0EjzZxYZVDqUDs7QGih8M8kYRARB_0/s320/Study_5.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The bottom left shelves to finish off</b></td></tr></tbody></table>It's a rainy Saturday so while Jo watches episodes of Chicago PD, it's the perfect time to finish off this thread. For the final post, I'll check out the shelves at the bottom left, just behind the desk drawers. </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1xoRHyyuVNqy_SdD5bDM91IW5GH1KfknnnzCmZi55wSS60cjEjZXkbVH3dnf90FEA9hYrW6el-bNXCSw_jOKpmBQERnQfy3oLmrTUHa-lh6T_R8MkFR3AxFEXrMbNACeuNdb3SuY0j6Iuvs7K2kkmehvjKtUvH_2OtCKHxc1E9FlCb-IS3pJtoCz3UFc/s3515/Left%20bottom%20(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2582" data-original-width="3515" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1xoRHyyuVNqy_SdD5bDM91IW5GH1KfknnnzCmZi55wSS60cjEjZXkbVH3dnf90FEA9hYrW6el-bNXCSw_jOKpmBQERnQfy3oLmrTUHa-lh6T_R8MkFR3AxFEXrMbNACeuNdb3SuY0j6Iuvs7K2kkmehvjKtUvH_2OtCKHxc1E9FlCb-IS3pJtoCz3UFc/s320/Left%20bottom%20(1).JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Close up of the very bottom shelf</b></td></tr></tbody></table>Working alphabetically from bottom to top.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMqqds3L6JzmC6VyvAD8e2WbpXOUbOHL-FoEDSSdQXs4WtfSbRhDN3vgWSGvb0Cc8Gq9anWTZwSCdRHYcbofbwLz9rR1DB1SuUGzHBp_SED8I_Ye2GR0nLiyw0N-0GldhOSYOIsSxqBuJW7yQQwMGgme4_TUyDMKQuwLPlGk_-wr-23FgJ354iqBrHP4/s3543/Left%20bot%201a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1325" data-original-width="3543" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMqqds3L6JzmC6VyvAD8e2WbpXOUbOHL-FoEDSSdQXs4WtfSbRhDN3vgWSGvb0Cc8Gq9anWTZwSCdRHYcbofbwLz9rR1DB1SuUGzHBp_SED8I_Ye2GR0nLiyw0N-0GldhOSYOIsSxqBuJW7yQQwMGgme4_TUyDMKQuwLPlGk_-wr-23FgJ354iqBrHP4/s320/Left%20bot%201a.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>1. <b>Left side, bottom row, back</b>. Mostly mysteries here. Starting with a bit of classical fiction from Somerset Maugham. I have liked his story telling in other books. Then one by Archer Mayor (a crime series set in Vermont). Then 4 or 5 by Ed McBain. I like his police procedurals, featuring the 87th Precinct in a fictional city. I have read Robert McCammon's A Boy's Life, an excellent coming of age kind of horror story. Mine looked interesting. Val McDermid writes the Tony Hill psychological crime series and also a few others. Always good value for money. Julie McElwain is a new author for me. This is the first book in a time travel mystery series. James Melville is another new author, who writes the Inspector Otani mystery series. I've talked about Margaret Millar before, a Canadian mystery writer who has to be one of my all time favorite author in the genre. I keep finding more of her books. I eventually hope to read all of her books. I have read one of Magdalen Nabb's Inspector Guarnaccia's mystery series. It was ok. I hope to explore the series more. I thought I'd read one of Lillian O'Donnell's Norah Mulcahaney mystery series, but I guessed wrong. She is another new author for me. I bought the first two Emily Kenyon books by Gregg Olsen but have yet to try them. One day I'll either do so or just give up. Baroness Orczy wrote the Scarlet Pimpernel books. I've read one so far and also her Man in the Corner mystery series. Most enjoyable. Robert B. Parker wrote both the Spencer books and the Jesse Stone series. I've enjoyed a couple of the Spenser books very much, but still have to try Jesse Stone. I have watched the TV series starring Tom Selleck. Both Jo and I enjoyed that very much. The final two books in this row are a new author, Barbara Paul, author of both series and standalones. Kill Fee is one of her standalones. Finally there is Matthew Pearl, with historical mysteries. I've read The Dante Club and now have The Poe Shadow to try.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnFr7U12DsDMqSkBTDC_u-BIhivTrV_J33hkdhaWbVcgUDt8EJ5pe2fTmYZlZU5CRahbgItPBoyJGRxM-k-0_z-ziwMKThM3I4FzxwcG4TFD363tdm2eTValcgP15FoE3P0BRwgHZ9pSi2edG2tB0BaULefemPgjp8CUBKgekyHbYwwH7fOaXuOkCs_3U/s3648/Left%20bot%201c.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1058" data-original-width="3648" height="93" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnFr7U12DsDMqSkBTDC_u-BIhivTrV_J33hkdhaWbVcgUDt8EJ5pe2fTmYZlZU5CRahbgItPBoyJGRxM-k-0_z-ziwMKThM3I4FzxwcG4TFD363tdm2eTValcgP15FoE3P0BRwgHZ9pSi2edG2tB0BaULefemPgjp8CUBKgekyHbYwwH7fOaXuOkCs_3U/s320/Left%20bot%201c.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>2. <b>Left side, bottom row, front</b>. Once again, mostly mysteries with a few Sci Fi thrown in. Starting with a few of Thomas Perry's Jane Whitefield thrillers. Jane helps people in trouble disappear. Very interesting. I've read two of Jean Potts' spy mysteries and enjoyed very much. She wrote mainly in the 50's and 60's. Next is Preston & Child who write the Agent Prendergast horror thriller series, e.g. Relic. I've not read any of the Ellery Queen mysteries but saw this book and thought it might worth a try. I discovered Kathy Reichs after reading some of Patricia Cornwell's Scarpetta and Karin Slaughter's Grant County forensic mysteries. Reichs created the Temperance Brennan series, set in South Carolina and Montreal. Very good series. Ruth Rendell writes the Inspector Wexford English mysteries and I'm just beginning to explore it. Now on to some Sci Fi with Mack Reynolds, a new author for me. Time Gladiator is part of his Joe Mauser series. Another new series next with J.D. Robb's (aka Norah Roberts) in Death series, a crime series set in the future. Sci Fi once again with one by Keith Roberts (new) and Kim Stanley Robinson (also new, but I will be reading another book by Robinson in my Tome challenge). Peter Robinson writes the DCI Banks mystery series, another excellent British series that was turned into a TV show. And then you've got to Holly Roth spy stories (just as good as Helen MacInnes and who I plan to continue to explore) and a fantasy by Patrick Rothfuss. I liked the first book in the Kingkiller series, even though I began it being somewhat intimidated by the number of pages.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNnD2naa6pq030Q-RBCK8AY_rwwKIA12iP3X-VqULOBupxRoPWEVv9MsvyaZoG6eRTkt6EePYAtyApl1aptocwC0bfythATQA0IWfe-p2N_oR4wbMZFT-X4OuHlAATqw6QVjl7TT4Ee2Wl5YCCaXNBdhLQ1qq-3zxvc-8QIEWqZZbq2UzqQZ9Vluq1p-M/s3580/Left%20bot%201b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1332" data-original-width="3580" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNnD2naa6pq030Q-RBCK8AY_rwwKIA12iP3X-VqULOBupxRoPWEVv9MsvyaZoG6eRTkt6EePYAtyApl1aptocwC0bfythATQA0IWfe-p2N_oR4wbMZFT-X4OuHlAATqw6QVjl7TT4Ee2Wl5YCCaXNBdhLQ1qq-3zxvc-8QIEWqZZbq2UzqQZ9Vluq1p-M/s320/Left%20bot%201b.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>3. <b>Left side, 2nd bottom</b>. There is more Sci Fi / Fantasy in this grouping, starting with a new author Brandon Sanderson and his Mistborn series. After that, back to mystery / thrillers with John Sanford's Prey series. I've enjoyed them so far and have a few on my shelf as you can see. After that with more Sci Fi and another new author, John Scalzi and the Old Man's War (I've heard great things about the series). Dell Shannon writes the Lt Mendoza police procedural. I've read one and it was so good. Somewhat like the 87th Precinct books. Next is another of my favorite all - time authors, Nevil Shute. He was such a wonderful story teller putting normal people in settings that make them shine. Pied Piper, The Far Country, On the Beach. I hope to read all of his books some day. Sci Fi next with Robert Silverberg (I'm not all that familiar with him) and Clifford Simak (I like him, although some of his books have been silly). My Simenon books are scattered throughout the house, depending on which publisher. The Maigret series is always excellent. Another new Sci fi author in Dan Simmons with the first book in his Hyperion series. A Martin Beck mystery by Maj Sjowall and the previously mentioned Karin Slaughter with some of her thrillers are next. Julie Smith writes two series that I've enjoyed, the Skip Langdon mysteries set in New Orleans and the Rebecca Schwartz series set in California. I didn't warm to her Talba Wallis series. The row finishes with another new Sci Fi author, Neal Stephenson. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7YHd_2t9Cd5RmgrNBD0wIUu8jkmo1zv1P7IvNhtdOhBtF3QULdIijdJazSJTWFVqszPy6HvA5i3dehOPmqB7yjoOhUWkNMfp00-TqErIoHrueUOvXxf1Irml0zeKdcmQ_o1gqJf-9XgtM8Dy2OFZ_3MOGRSGFFFQISmP9U18mYaY-hm3rd7zybvhksQg/s3523/Left%202nd%20bottom%201a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1293" data-original-width="3523" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7YHd_2t9Cd5RmgrNBD0wIUu8jkmo1zv1P7IvNhtdOhBtF3QULdIijdJazSJTWFVqszPy6HvA5i3dehOPmqB7yjoOhUWkNMfp00-TqErIoHrueUOvXxf1Irml0zeKdcmQ_o1gqJf-9XgtM8Dy2OFZ_3MOGRSGFFFQISmP9U18mYaY-hm3rd7zybvhksQg/s320/Left%202nd%20bottom%201a.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>4. <b>Left side, 3rd bottom, back</b>. (The 2nd last row of books!) As I look at this 2nd last row, I think all but two books are mysteries. We'll see if I'm correct. The first ten are by Rex Stout, author of the Nero Wolfe mysteries. I think he is one of my focus authors in 2024 so I can make a dent in my collection. After that is John Straley with a PI series set in Alaska. I've read one and it's sort of mystical. Julian Symons wrote mystery series and standalones. I've enjoyed a couple of his books thus far. I've mentioned Peter Temple before. He is author of the Jack Irish, Australian mystery series, as well as standalone thrillers. Sheri S. Tepper is my one Sci Fi entry on this shelf. I found her Shadow's End to be such a unique story and I'm looking forward to exploring her work more. I've read a few of Josephine Tey's Inspector Grant mysteries. She wasn't prolific but they were interesting. Victoria Thompson writes the Gaslight mysteries set in early 1900's New York featuring mid-wife, Sarah Brandt. I'm working my way through the series and enjoying very much. Charles Todd writes the historical mystery series featuring Inspector Rutledge. I've enjoyed the first two so far. They are set after WWI. Arthur Upfield wrote his mystery series in Australia, featuring Aborigine Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte. I enjoyed my first exposure to the series and look forward to reading a few more. Janwillem van de Wetering writes a series with the Amsterdam cops, Grijpstra and de Gier that I've started. And finally is a new author for me, S.S. van Dine, a screenwriter and author of the Philo Vance murder mysteries, which you can regularly watch on TCM.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBIq63XRJAqYiUgU54MnfC1KKrLzZGGDLrFNllUG4jUe_fLHsnAInOlIoiKGoiqzRKktdqe1R11hx0O6lF3LvNQSxtLEw8JnfgSPyR0ZLc4gl9527KzLdmLmjCQptzOUTh83417b6Mt8C3KgDbTPQQfdrBR6vlu32WbAw9NxZwHxivGJm09Tw5-YbWBuU/s3228/Left%202nd%20bottom%201b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1403" data-original-width="3228" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBIq63XRJAqYiUgU54MnfC1KKrLzZGGDLrFNllUG4jUe_fLHsnAInOlIoiKGoiqzRKktdqe1R11hx0O6lF3LvNQSxtLEw8JnfgSPyR0ZLc4gl9527KzLdmLmjCQptzOUTh83417b6Mt8C3KgDbTPQQfdrBR6vlu32WbAw9NxZwHxivGJm09Tw5-YbWBuU/w320-h139/Left%202nd%20bottom%201b.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>5. <b>Left side, 3rd bottom, front</b>. After I took this photo, I filed the last three books correctly. LOL. So let's see. Joan D, Vinge and Vernor Vinge are both Sci Fi authors, both new to me. In case you were wondering how I pick some books, quite often they are listed in the back of other books I'm enjoying. If they sound interesting as well, I'll try to find the books. Some favorite mystery writers next with Martin Walker, creator of the Bruno series set in France, Ruth Ware, who I'm just starting to get into (not sure how much I like her yet) and Minette Walters, whose standalones have always been unique. I hope to read all of her work some day as well. I've read two mysteries by Hillary Waugh, Last Seen Wearing and A Death in Town and they were both excellent, super character studies of people coping in crisis and during a police investigation. I'm looking forward to reading more of his work. I've only read one Charles Willeford mystery so far and it was kind of different. I'm looking forward to trying his Hoke Moseley series. Timothy Williams is another author whose work were listed in the back of a book, from the Soho Crime publications. He writes the Inspector Trotti series. I've been exploring Jack Williamson's Sci Fi books. He was one of the early writers in the genre. I've read some Sci Fi by Colin Wilson, The Space Vampires and The Mind Parasites and am looking forward to seeing what kind of mysteries he writes. Connie Willis writes the Oxford Time Travel series and I enjoyed the first book. Gene Wolfe is kind of different. I didn't enjoy his Shadow & Claw series but I liked a book of his short stories so I'm going to give him another try with Castleview. Cornel Woolrich was one of the first 'noir' mystery writers. He wrote the short story on which Alfred Hitchcock presented Rear Window. I like his style of writing. Two final books / authors. John Wyndham wrote so many of my favorite Sci Fi stories (I mentioned in an earlier post.). This collection of short stories might be interesting. And finally I've read one of Qiu Xiaolong's Inspector Chen mysteries. Number 2 awaits.<p></p><p>So there you go. I hope you didn't mind my self - indulgence too much? Back to normal posts for the next while. Enjoy your weekend.</p>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-88490616054574673282024-02-08T12:19:00.000-08:002024-02-08T12:19:27.764-08:00For Janice - Books Part 19 (The Penultimate Post on this Subject.... until I do it next time)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq_rkHywzLr42m7q9NlZGenPzEkUcIGP96w_2cOia8hijoKaqctvIo24x1_Q-tvtcqITU-E9rwoTpwVDzWAJ99bRcHbSJhuAApUt9XQNZlhDBY5ivtCufWBoGYqthfZyjTrKehmk8ddccSFq0KnVYPHpE8NvnZvtAjwsCRou700vptt6sXZRf5nMqp0OY/s3648/Study_5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq_rkHywzLr42m7q9NlZGenPzEkUcIGP96w_2cOia8hijoKaqctvIo24x1_Q-tvtcqITU-E9rwoTpwVDzWAJ99bRcHbSJhuAApUt9XQNZlhDBY5ivtCufWBoGYqthfZyjTrKehmk8ddccSFq0KnVYPHpE8NvnZvtAjwsCRou700vptt6sXZRf5nMqp0OY/s320/Study_5.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>So here we go with the 2nd last look at my book shelves. Today I look at the books on the left side of the cabinet, behind the closed doors.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglbpaMSCcvr07cHUN2QNMbsrQBd4Y2dzpCxsLMMAPUntDZxDZYB8TxNOr0XyA5oLM1mktl5emmP_AiovLJ67Ha1Q3P7B5wir_qziMdMnXtHrbQPws6BZhGFrDm-GnrmXFOJZHVYQy7c46WU5pV92KYc5Io_7WXEObL-dyv_bYfFCbMzn-a9QCneIim6-Y/s3321/2nd%20left%20bot%201b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1405" data-original-width="3321" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglbpaMSCcvr07cHUN2QNMbsrQBd4Y2dzpCxsLMMAPUntDZxDZYB8TxNOr0XyA5oLM1mktl5emmP_AiovLJ67Ha1Q3P7B5wir_qziMdMnXtHrbQPws6BZhGFrDm-GnrmXFOJZHVYQy7c46WU5pV92KYc5Io_7WXEObL-dyv_bYfFCbMzn-a9QCneIim6-Y/s320/2nd%20left%20bot%201b.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>1. <b>Left side, bottom shelf, back row</b>. (Once again, these books are stored alphabetically, with this row starting with the letter 'g'). It starts with 4 books by Erle Stanley Gardner of Perry Mason fame, I'm just getting into the series after enjoying rewatching the original TV series starring Raymond Burr. After that are 5 books by Jonathan Gash, mysteries featuring somewhat shady antique dealer Lovejoy. (Another TV series both Jo and I enjoyed immensely. Maybe Vision TV will start showing those shows). Next are 4 books by Michael Gilbert who wrote both mysteries, featuring Inspectors Hazelrigg and Petrella) and war stories. I've enjoyed both. After that, there is one Sci Fi story from Phyllis Gotlieb (Blue Apes) and 3 books by Caroline Graham, author of the Midsomer Murder books. After that are my continuation of the Poldark books by Winston Graham. I really enjoyed #1. The row finishes with a number of Inspector Jury mysteries by American author Martha Grimes. It's another excellent series, all centered around pubs.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGC3IvXYZb4lhl1C_Lc6VRhRg5AsH29cwljsfFA2gK-_vVeGBYBuiKmpHhq8yQAx-r-NqKC3yXNalm96FdEpztxvbQM9kF_N2Y_mv7h6RAV6_Mm4-j2If73TFjJ8PCaQEDVINyFhmuQP6So2mVNAgmSIZTxfbOcyQAyfNdNVAIH90qS6UuVTw6AFpeXxE/s3648/2nd%20left%20bot%201a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1479" data-original-width="3648" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGC3IvXYZb4lhl1C_Lc6VRhRg5AsH29cwljsfFA2gK-_vVeGBYBuiKmpHhq8yQAx-r-NqKC3yXNalm96FdEpztxvbQM9kF_N2Y_mv7h6RAV6_Mm4-j2If73TFjJ8PCaQEDVINyFhmuQP6So2mVNAgmSIZTxfbOcyQAyfNdNVAIH90qS6UuVTw6AFpeXxE/s320/2nd%20left%20bot%201a.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>2. <b>Left side, bottom shelf, front row</b>. About 3/4 of the books in this row were written by 2 authors, Jane Haddam (who writes the Gregor Demarkian mysteries - Demarkian is an ex - FBI profiler who now does detective work) and Adam Hall (author of the Quiller spy series. I'm focused on this series for my February Focus challenge). The row is finished off by a number of Steve Hamilton mysteries featuring Alex McKnight, a new series for me and one by John Harvey, author of the Charles Resnick and Frank Elder mysteries.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjj9__SUDb7jxBf4AU3gMSpEcqUz85cAaWwtYkSQxd-bN_dpghkZF0bLbMJt_TjYYkaQzVFDtzYL4MdGd95tWstm7ggpEy-NFWz2ft1EwPvTmjKE0uJwAR1n4IzQbJzMJ4-c76ddcpdsqC6sFcp_mSXiKU_vZPIcCxh8qjHdUBo5nzBSsiYGjbPYRCIXc/s3304/2nd%20left%20mid%201a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1444" data-original-width="3304" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjj9__SUDb7jxBf4AU3gMSpEcqUz85cAaWwtYkSQxd-bN_dpghkZF0bLbMJt_TjYYkaQzVFDtzYL4MdGd95tWstm7ggpEy-NFWz2ft1EwPvTmjKE0uJwAR1n4IzQbJzMJ4-c76ddcpdsqC6sFcp_mSXiKU_vZPIcCxh8qjHdUBo5nzBSsiYGjbPYRCIXc/s320/2nd%20left%20mid%201a.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>3. <b>Left side, middle shelf, back row</b>. Other than some horror / fantasy from James Herbert the remaining of the books in this row are mystery / thrillers. The first is the 1st book in the Dr. Fenimore series by Robin Hathaway. This is followed by 3 Jack Caffery thrillers by Mo Hayder and 4 books by James Herbert (fast becoming one of my favorite horror authors) including the final book in the Rats trilogy, Domain. You've got three classic mysteries by Georgette Heyer, 2 Sonora Blair mysteries by Lynn Hightower (I haven't been disappointed by any of the mysteries I've read by her so far), 2 Inspector Serrailler mysteries by Susan Hill, also author of a number of gothic horrors. The remaining 7 books in this row contain the excellent Navaho mysteries by Tony Hillerman.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRkJi5wa1RWe7xLs83iGDR76mshOxmJvLm2vToT5tUSjiXfKLNUGS7CTQBuB23UezAPVSBQa1SqOVzuq3W1-x_FKtSbM-54VK8zcE3fNmcoJ1osHUlPV-03ohrzsm9P_7rC50KIfuX_2iQmUuPi8xfkKVih-ZK2B8ynvqGDrVzo2mPpPLQVr5oTqCzkxA/s3404/2nd%20left%20mid%201b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1394" data-original-width="3404" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRkJi5wa1RWe7xLs83iGDR76mshOxmJvLm2vToT5tUSjiXfKLNUGS7CTQBuB23UezAPVSBQa1SqOVzuq3W1-x_FKtSbM-54VK8zcE3fNmcoJ1osHUlPV-03ohrzsm9P_7rC50KIfuX_2iQmUuPi8xfkKVih-ZK2B8ynvqGDrVzo2mPpPLQVr5oTqCzkxA/s320/2nd%20left%20mid%201b.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>4. <b>Left side, middle shelf, front row</b>. This row contains all mystery series. Alan Hunter wrote the Inspector George Gently series. The TV show is quite different from the books so far. Joe Ide is a new author for me, author of the IQ mystery series. Arnaldur Indridason writes the Inspector Erlendur mysteries set in Iceland. Hammond Innes wrote spy thrillers and Michael Innes is a new author for me, featuring Inspector Appleby with Death at the President's Lodgings as the first book in that series. The next 10 books are by P.D. James, of the Inspector Dalgleish books and also two featuring PI Cordelia Gray. I think James is another of my upcoming focus authors. The last book in this row is an Inspector Roy Grace mystery, set in Jo's old stomping grounds around Brighton, by Peter James and I think he will continue on the top shelf. We'll see, eh?<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgng-bf4hOuYXCTA0Z8C6nbNNSeQAUmqLJQkesmwf8AVYPIi_v1-Ft2Z4_SY8QZrKASCH275qiCUH9eOdMgt3_i0ASUhAw_MmnxXvUpudIyKsgu6VD8VC8MTn-cGwyQkwqjlz0_GTEbOM-mECcCIDLKtS_qYwuWHk2cmQICrU6zzpfSZV6I-2NJnyXEhFk/s3648/2nd%20left%20top%201b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1755" data-original-width="3648" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgng-bf4hOuYXCTA0Z8C6nbNNSeQAUmqLJQkesmwf8AVYPIi_v1-Ft2Z4_SY8QZrKASCH275qiCUH9eOdMgt3_i0ASUhAw_MmnxXvUpudIyKsgu6VD8VC8MTn-cGwyQkwqjlz0_GTEbOM-mECcCIDLKtS_qYwuWHk2cmQICrU6zzpfSZV6I-2NJnyXEhFk/s320/2nd%20left%20top%201b.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>5. <b>Left side, top shelf, back row</b>. I've been proven wrong. The first book is a horror story by Jack Ketchum. I previously read his The Girl Next Door and it was unsettling. I've enjoyed the next series very much, the Kat Colorado mystery series by Karen Kijewski. (Kat is much like Kinsey Milhone. It's unfortunate that Kijewski just stopped writing the series after only nine books. Jonathan King has written 7 Max Freeman thrillers and 3 standalones. I did enjoy the 1st Freeman book. Hans Hellmut Kirst wrote anti war stories, many featuring Gunner Asch. He also wrote Night of the Generals which became a feature movie. The sequel, The Affairs of the Generals, is on my shelf. Janice Law writes the Anna Peters industrial spy series and the historical mystery series featuring painter Francis Bacon. Cross Check is the latest in the Anna Peters series. John Lawton writes the Inspector Troy mystery series and Elizabeth Lemarchand the Pollard and Troy mysteries, a new series for me. Next are two books by one of my favorite mystery writers, Donna Leon, Her Inspector Brunetti mystery series set in Venice has a bit of everything, neat mysteries, great food and wonderful characters. I have yet to try John Lescroart's Dismas Hardy legal series but I have heard good things about it. It may slip off the bookshelf if I don't get to it soon though. The next three books are by horror / Sci Fi author Ira Levin. The three books includes The Stepford Wives. Martin Limon writes a mystery series set in South Korea and featuring two US MP's. I really liked the setting and the 1st two stories. Peter Lovesey writes both the Inspector Diamond and the Sgt Cribb mystery series. Jonathan Maberry writes a couple of horror series, both gritty and high paced. John D. MacDonald writes the Travis McGee hard boiled mystery books and Ross Macdonald features PI Lew Archer.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidnBOyYV-6_NZmeVJWx19b4d8YZ3MrzZjIWAx51Oy3QlcY5Cz7DBm8-AChOPJUaEZiTUobaQYDHJZ-J1sqsWccY8l75Vz3ZWAXZKTlUOyYy7O2cH7sNcWBiQpmvXaF362s6tchJ0e-8Jtyx8lyaj6DJ-DXeYRFSqL-KlPoO-DtbjT8N3s9UuBXEWDiopI/s3648/2nd%20left%20top%201a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1667" data-original-width="3648" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidnBOyYV-6_NZmeVJWx19b4d8YZ3MrzZjIWAx51Oy3QlcY5Cz7DBm8-AChOPJUaEZiTUobaQYDHJZ-J1sqsWccY8l75Vz3ZWAXZKTlUOyYy7O2cH7sNcWBiQpmvXaF362s6tchJ0e-8Jtyx8lyaj6DJ-DXeYRFSqL-KlPoO-DtbjT8N3s9UuBXEWDiopI/s320/2nd%20left%20top%201a.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>6. <b>Left side, top shelf, front row</b>. I see I've got the first almost half of this row a bit mixed up, with a mixture of John D. MacDonald Travis McGee books mixed in with Ross Macdonald Lew Archer books and also Helen MacInnes cold war spy thrillers. You get the picture, eh? The next book by Charlotte MacLeod features another new author, creator of the Sarah Kelling & Max Bittersohn mysteries. The next six books are all Commander Gideon police procedurals by JJ Marric and the remainder are from another favorite mystery series of mine, the Inspector Roderick Alleyn mysteries by Ngaio Marsh. Lots to keep my happy.<p></p><p>So, just one more set of shelves to show you, maybe tomorrow. Hope you've gotten some reading ideas from this ongoing thread?</p>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-17022823274185209952024-02-07T13:46:00.000-08:002024-02-07T13:46:08.984-08:00For Janice - Books Part 18<p>Not so sunny today, kind of a gloomy Wednesday. Jo is at work and I'm in the den with the dogs, listening to an FA Cup match on TV as I type this. </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWMAjVnwfseLpZda8oAAnzCTTKm4GbFg8XGJC4C9ZxIMkKuUsKPmIvG02e7WANzJUsLk6eKL7bnCSnyoDRSuInBAMO1yz34r9PXBmJoMZRCbURxBJYLsplQFhj-vPQqWsTAyu7Ij1zN8mq4wyQ3-dpbkcvihOwLfYVjHyHGfv8qSHNszYO_XqXciS8_Yc/s3648/Study_5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWMAjVnwfseLpZda8oAAnzCTTKm4GbFg8XGJC4C9ZxIMkKuUsKPmIvG02e7WANzJUsLk6eKL7bnCSnyoDRSuInBAMO1yz34r9PXBmJoMZRCbURxBJYLsplQFhj-vPQqWsTAyu7Ij1zN8mq4wyQ3-dpbkcvihOwLfYVjHyHGfv8qSHNszYO_XqXciS8_Yc/s320/Study_5.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Looking at the bottom shelves behind the doors</b></td></tr></tbody></table>Continuing with my ongoing look at our book shelves and the books on them, I'm still in the Den and looking at the books. Today I'm focused on the very bottom, center right side behind the doors. There are 3 shelves and two rows of books on each shelf. The shelves go from A - Z from this right side to the far left. It's a pain when I have to reorganize. 😕😖😃</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga9diYM9RVjkJO4mgoEwtX4Xap8IcAvuMiryIWPJq7NWmtsIdblXYaDqKRvkhEKX08UHCwgmSmAMpBYUyWvi9SsNxUFoTt4kRrsPoLJdE60bDfM48TP2ylm5Nnc3UUhOiuHzP0ii9B2FUJj7sOTHgK-7AM2__6D1icalpnC84T9yIuyyfzg2mRl5dfaXE/s3578/2nd%20rt%201a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1405" data-original-width="3578" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga9diYM9RVjkJO4mgoEwtX4Xap8IcAvuMiryIWPJq7NWmtsIdblXYaDqKRvkhEKX08UHCwgmSmAMpBYUyWvi9SsNxUFoTt4kRrsPoLJdE60bDfM48TP2ylm5Nnc3UUhOiuHzP0ii9B2FUJj7sOTHgK-7AM2__6D1icalpnC84T9yIuyyfzg2mRl5dfaXE/s320/2nd%20rt%201a.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>1.<b> Right side, first shelf, back row (I've not read any of these books)</b>. The first eight books are women mystery writers; Catherine Aird with the first two books in her Inspector Sloane mysteries; one book by Susan Wittig Albert, the first book in her China Bayles mystery series and then 5 of Margery Allingham's Albert Campion mysteries (I'm currently reading her Look to the Lady. Next are two Sci Fi stories by Poul Anderson and one from Piers Anthony, both usually good value for money. A variety of mysteries follow; one by Charlotte Armstrong, a standalone, one filed incorrectly by Christa Faust (LOL), two of Isaac Asimov's short stories featuring the intrepid Black Widowers and the 3rd book in the Mr. Chip's mysteries. Two Sci Fi stories from J.G. Ballard follow (one strange dude sometimes and then for the most part you've mysteries; Robert Barnard is a new author for me (this is the first book in his Idwal Meredith series; two books by Nevada Barr from her Anna Pigeon mystery series (a favorite of mine), then 3 from Jefferson Bass's Boneyard mystery series (I need to get back to it as I enjoyed the first books); Peter S. Beagle's A Fine and Private Place, a love story between 2 ghosts (I've enjoyed others by Beagle); the rest are by M.C. Beaton, either from her Hamish MacBeth or her Agatha Raison mystery series, both enjoyable. I think I prefer Hamish.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiH1T8-9xMgYDGOkp_WLtD9qhp6Kjf0-8pvnXNwAspAng6KNa1tgha_oKOPrdVzp2NN7MwqEDZgcdYwH6HB5jzcGAN9VYgMxoZnUvdrFdzxGD_Z-c756fEhgDKYrGe8QlgiW2M6PPFS1NaLx26CoZpWuRuHHxWKTrIt8bCCM5avr8-DXmumrh1wJYZ5M0/s3324/2nd%20rt%201b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1480" data-original-width="3324" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiH1T8-9xMgYDGOkp_WLtD9qhp6Kjf0-8pvnXNwAspAng6KNa1tgha_oKOPrdVzp2NN7MwqEDZgcdYwH6HB5jzcGAN9VYgMxoZnUvdrFdzxGD_Z-c756fEhgDKYrGe8QlgiW2M6PPFS1NaLx26CoZpWuRuHHxWKTrIt8bCCM5avr8-DXmumrh1wJYZ5M0/s320/2nd%20rt%201b.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>2. <b>Right side, first shelf, front row</b>. For the most part you've got more mysteries, with just a couple of exceptions. It starts with more MC Beaton mysteries (she will be one of my monthly focus authors this year so I can make a dent in the overflow); Anthony Berkeley wrote the Roger Sheringham mysteries but also many standalones, including some under other names, Trial and Error is a standalone; Max Brand wrote westerns as far as I know but also the Dr. Kildare books. I remember watching Dr. Kildare (starring Richard Chamberlin) as a kid so thought I'd like to try one of the books. Lilian Jackson Braun writes the Cat Who mysteries. I've been enjoying that series quite a bit. I have to try Frenzy because it's an Alfred Hitchcock movie I've enjoyed many times. Nicholas Blake wrote the Nigel Strangeways mysteries and might be better known as the dad of Daniel Day - Lewis. Winterkill is the 3rd book in the Joe Pickett mystery series by C.J. Box. Tom Bradby writes interesting mysteries. I enjoyed The Master of Rain very much. the Desert Spear is the 2nd book in Peter V. Brett's Demon Cycle. The first book was excellent. The remaining books are from 3 mystery series by another of my 2024 Focus authors, Simon Brett. I've enjoyed every one of the series so far; Charles Paris (part time actor / part time sleuth), Mrs. Pargeter (kind of Miss Marple) and the Fethering mysteries. All are entertaining and different in their own way.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_9NNuHDE2q8YskfxbeJ4ZD399FHvJ4W6my5ojTzVTnauZ6ms3_LQdnhI_85W_FvcyC18Jp0L9CrMZnFc853Z54KXhNlaFGxjPfwHlAHlEEcU3w_17vAO8bR_lkKXwDxO1qBAZAp1jgzWn5D0OHUNVp-bf6oeW2umme_VrOZz5ELQveWsd3Q29jLuFxzc/s3493/2nd%20rt%202a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1444" data-original-width="3493" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_9NNuHDE2q8YskfxbeJ4ZD399FHvJ4W6my5ojTzVTnauZ6ms3_LQdnhI_85W_FvcyC18Jp0L9CrMZnFc853Z54KXhNlaFGxjPfwHlAHlEEcU3w_17vAO8bR_lkKXwDxO1qBAZAp1jgzWn5D0OHUNVp-bf6oeW2umme_VrOZz5ELQveWsd3Q29jLuFxzc/s320/2nd%20rt%202a.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>3. <b>Right side, 2nd shelf, back row</b>. More Sci Fi and Fantasy in this row. The row starts with the remaining Simon Brett mysteries, then one by Ken Bruen (Jack Taylor / Ireland). After that you've got John Brunner (another Sci Fi author I'm enjoying), Lois McMaster Bujold (#4 in her Vorkosigan saga) and William Burnett, a new Sci Fi author for me. The next few books are Tarzan books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, with one from his People that Time Forgot trilogy). Andrea Camilleri writes the Inspector Montalbano mysteries, one I'm not overwhelmed by, but will continue to see if I enjoy it more.) After that are Sci Fi short stories by John W. Campbell, a Felix Castor horror / fantasy mystery by Mike Carey and a mixture of mysteries by John Dickson Carr (both series and standalones). Peter Chambers is another new author for me; Murder is for Keeps is the 1st book in his Mark Preston series. Finally on this row, you've got 4 Sci Fi stories by C.J. Cherryh (a newly discovered and enjoyed Sci Fi author) and 2 spy stories by John le Carré.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh15v1RzgN39v58XI7GZ4raNrp9Rd3HXAh1Nv18l2vidSTxfUTuFHHmfWgrgr94DUSt7OsruAv1qz6LWh_KF0Ivfgi6rJRIcF6FcS9CaoYHJJBjxAe28C4n13rLzdOobP1ymcDZ4EltxvQFOdm50xY10Z49C4lZH551ZO2nzZ5k9jE5vRPEWUCubWumWc4/s3394/2nd%20rt%202b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1557" data-original-width="3394" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh15v1RzgN39v58XI7GZ4raNrp9Rd3HXAh1Nv18l2vidSTxfUTuFHHmfWgrgr94DUSt7OsruAv1qz6LWh_KF0Ivfgi6rJRIcF6FcS9CaoYHJJBjxAe28C4n13rLzdOobP1ymcDZ4EltxvQFOdm50xY10Z49C4lZH551ZO2nzZ5k9jE5vRPEWUCubWumWc4/s320/2nd%20rt%202b.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>4. <b>Right side, 2nd shelf, front row</b>. Once again, for the most part this shelf has mysteries and / or thrillers. My January focus author starts the row, that being the wonderful Agatha Christie, always entertaining. John Christopher does write Sci Fi and I've enjoyed a few of his efforts. Then some reliables in Ann Cleeves (a George and Molly Jones), Michael Connelly (Bosch), John Connolly (the very gritty Charlie Parker - I'm currently reading one of his); and K.C. Constantine (Rocksburg mysteries). The remainder of that row feature various works by John Creasey (another of my monthly focus authors for 2024), the Toff & the Baron, <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW1eiC6LIDfT5mnc3bNURA79jKmGcCKtJGw1dQufwfgZw0b8G6AQvClmNPp-QZu2NJSwMCAv-O8_lSgNa-Lv4_OU1ZpcQ3ZHO1iVjX1gWjbaYUrwhnO3MsPOgLADTFPPpP-vgig0keuKgV0QG4-Fh69KSPiBTfPhyphenhyphenUG7HDqtPnDpNcRSki5w0SHbioTDY/s3293/2nd%20rt%203a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1412" data-original-width="3293" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW1eiC6LIDfT5mnc3bNURA79jKmGcCKtJGw1dQufwfgZw0b8G6AQvClmNPp-QZu2NJSwMCAv-O8_lSgNa-Lv4_OU1ZpcQ3ZHO1iVjX1gWjbaYUrwhnO3MsPOgLADTFPPpP-vgig0keuKgV0QG4-Fh69KSPiBTfPhyphenhyphenUG7HDqtPnDpNcRSki5w0SHbioTDY/s320/2nd%20rt%203a.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>5. <b>Right side, bottom shelf, back row</b>. This row mostly contains mysteries, with a few Sci Fi thrown in. There is an Isaac Bell adventure from Clive Cussler (the only one I've really enjoyed so far), a Henry Gamadge mystery by Elizabeth Daly, The Judas Cat from Dorothy Salisbury Davis and a few of Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse mysteries. Follow that up with 2 Sci Fi stories by Philip K. Dick (he's definitely unique and I've read and possess quite a few of his books). There is a mystery from Doris Miles Disney (I enjoyed the first one I read), then Sci Fi adventures from Stephen Donaldson (Gap) (I have previously enjoyed his Thomas Covenant and Mirror of her Dreams fantasy series) and Saul Dunn (the Cabal). Kate Ellis crafts interesting Archeological mysteries and J.T. Ellison writes high paced thrillers. P.N. Elrod has created a vampire series that combines a vampire story with a hard - boiled mystery. It's kind of neat. Loren D. Estleman writes thrillers featuring retired hit man Peter Macklin (amongst other series). Finally the row ends with Janet Evanovich's sexy, funny mystery series starring bond agent Stephani Plum.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAz0GA0FHpRMNyQqGTVkzAdTM0hHeSmTiuiDIgpyvCZrtUfrb6Lx6AOiuC9AlM_volqYHWIn-3XHvnERtY3ct31iwjhq6Wv1acW_n0XoiTfEGC2PcC8cjq-Baxrm5w670sa69rUg1tC60pPfSec75tFQca9Eai602-JAe-cAXYnj-DdCVF1cQ6RmpMH3A/s2990/2nd%20rt%203b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1586" data-original-width="2990" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAz0GA0FHpRMNyQqGTVkzAdTM0hHeSmTiuiDIgpyvCZrtUfrb6Lx6AOiuC9AlM_volqYHWIn-3XHvnERtY3ct31iwjhq6Wv1acW_n0XoiTfEGC2PcC8cjq-Baxrm5w670sa69rUg1tC60pPfSec75tFQca9Eai602-JAe-cAXYnj-DdCVF1cQ6RmpMH3A/s320/2nd%20rt%203b.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>6. <b>Right side, bottom shelf, front row</b>. Once again, for the most part, this shelf consists of mysteries. At the far left is a Liz Evans mystery featuring sometimes hapless PI Grace Smith. I've enjoyed the first books very much. Raymond Feist writes fantasy. I read the first book in his Riftwar series and #2 awaits. After that are a couple of Horatio Hornblower adventures (I'm winding down that series). And in quick succession... a minute passed (sorry had to slip in that Monty Python reference). Some Scandinavian mysteries from Karin Fossum (featuring Inspector Sejer), an Australian mystery by Candice Fox (Crimson Lake #3), a few by Frances Fyfield (her Helen West & Sarah Fortune mysteries) and a Neil Gaiman fantasy. Finishing off with the 3rd Cormoran Strike mystery by Robert Galbraith and the a variety of thrillers from Meg Gardiner (featuring either Evan Delaney, Jo Beckett or Unsub). <p></p><p>Well, there you go. Two more rows of shelves to go. I hope you enjoy checking out the books. I've always wanted to own a book store, I guess this is as close as I'll come. Enjoy the rest of your week.</p>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-7105828118017606502024-02-06T12:19:00.000-08:002024-02-06T12:19:50.724-08:00For Janice - Books Part 17<p>It's a beautiful, sunny, brisk day today. Just lovely. Not sure what Jo and I will be doing today, maybe some grocery shopping. She'd normally be at work but the mall is doing roof repairs which means the store will have to be closed for the day.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-rVc07t5vDrvpmOqvhM9iegn_3xgCunJuxARhmF5Yem66MtdlqV69WT40CEybMvh9Le67s0-7t_f9CNHxsAor-N_d6jwiR4EnC0bVBVZnqehK6vKjdjCfs5cWYh9kADpCWnYM7emOuDzv8_BZfq_rr3jczk4uatlnoyvNwt9Gf33N4A90sE2iIPd-2Z8/s3648/Study_4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="1892" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-rVc07t5vDrvpmOqvhM9iegn_3xgCunJuxARhmF5Yem66MtdlqV69WT40CEybMvh9Le67s0-7t_f9CNHxsAor-N_d6jwiR4EnC0bVBVZnqehK6vKjdjCfs5cWYh9kADpCWnYM7emOuDzv8_BZfq_rr3jczk4uatlnoyvNwt9Gf33N4A90sE2iIPd-2Z8/s320/Study_4.JPG" width="166" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Den right side of shelves</b></td></tr></tbody></table>While I wait to see what we're going to do and when, let's continue with my look at our book shelves and books. Continuing with the Den, the last room, I'll look at the right side of the book shelves today, starting at the top.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdPH6aOXSg_fR6DA6-cyFrcg8W_E-EzFWHfzIgVy2rV96l0__9S39PbdSW1BIlVh0HxRjXKh2CT78DH7gdtW6DFrJMSJOKxIw8SSR_tD_KKFUbFBbgxMcQTQrnJn1EPyMTzAbNdCcMQ3Lp5aUjcMmxp20QYI241MbobyKQLSqsjw32ejWA0J9OL_0WzAU/s2318/right%20top%201a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2241" data-original-width="2318" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdPH6aOXSg_fR6DA6-cyFrcg8W_E-EzFWHfzIgVy2rV96l0__9S39PbdSW1BIlVh0HxRjXKh2CT78DH7gdtW6DFrJMSJOKxIw8SSR_tD_KKFUbFBbgxMcQTQrnJn1EPyMTzAbNdCcMQ3Lp5aUjcMmxp20QYI241MbobyKQLSqsjw32ejWA0J9OL_0WzAU/s320/right%20top%201a.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>1. <b>Right side, Top left corner</b>. A mixture of genres here. Starting from the left you've got Alphabet House, a Department Q mystery set in Copenhagen by Jussi Adler-Olsen. Then there are two books Jo bought me for Xmas many moons ago. Both are non-fiction by Simon Winchester and deal with the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary, one was turned into a movie, The Professor and the Madman. Fascinating books. Then a collection of mysteries; an Inspector Maigret, then two by Charlotte Carter, set in New York. Vera Caspary might be best known for her noir mystery, Laura, which was turned into a movie as well, both excellent. I've got Bedelia now awaiting my attention. Next is The Toff, a thriller from John Creasey; this being the intro to the character. Finally, there is another book from Evelyn Piper, who also wrote Bunny Lake is Missing (great book and tense movie) and a police procedural by Dell Shannon, I enjoyed the first book I read by him. I do like me a well-written cop story.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZCa9WDSDCgXuJ5cNOKDaXJxpRuHmOx0fMStL_tCtr-P_N7jb8ND0ITkXHishlnTDM2BRvVrKM_WqnSWXzmq77s3YbTDozRxfVkLkHn1LJ6BVeo022nQ8kzyb4NxeS6cGXOy_TSLgjuR0LR5OEKbr35Ol8MqnN0n2uKI8LwiQ9eRRHxS354eSO_AtAjkY/s2743/right%20top%201b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2335" data-original-width="2743" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZCa9WDSDCgXuJ5cNOKDaXJxpRuHmOx0fMStL_tCtr-P_N7jb8ND0ITkXHishlnTDM2BRvVrKM_WqnSWXzmq77s3YbTDozRxfVkLkHn1LJ6BVeo022nQ8kzyb4NxeS6cGXOy_TSLgjuR0LR5OEKbr35Ol8MqnN0n2uKI8LwiQ9eRRHxS354eSO_AtAjkY/s320/right%20top%201b.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>2. <b>Right side, Top right corner</b>. Mostly mysteries / thrillers with a couple of exceptions. Walter Miller is a Sci Fi author. I read his A Canticle for Liebowitz a couple of times so thought it might be a good time to try something else by him. The Lodger was written in 1912 by Marie Belloc Lowndes and was turned into a movie I believe. I'm looking forward to finally reading it. Cara Black writes a detective thriller series featuring Aimee Leduc, set in Paris. I've read the first couple so far. Back in high school, I read a couple of books by Leo Rosten about a night school teacher trying to teach English as a 2nd Language. His most troublesome student was his most enthusiastic, one Hyman Kaplan. I found a copy of the first book a few years back. So funny. John Dickson Carr is a new author for me, although I did read his first Dr. Gideon Fell mystery. James Herbert is an excellent horror author. The Rats is the first book in his 'rats' trilogy. I have them all, just waiting to finish the final book. Erle Stanley Gardner wrote the Perry Mason books but also a series featuring The DA. The DA holds a Candle is one of that collection. Finally a couple of classic mystery writers, Arthur Conan Doyle and, once again, Georges Simenon.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG84LBxca2uBIwzVZmhdjQdnp3-yNvpAx-7ZZnHNXncR6I_hs7_qCfu0bQy5SkG2LS1WMLOY_5YofN0IpVXMC_hyzzwiHuL9H4GhjR2a-SUH1n__CBl8ng4ay0BMGZ4LlhHOP42KeQAlMiYA30yGys85GrwShLFlQBwP4FaiII_BNjxzlDZ5gFg6P-4jQ/s2844/right%202nd%20top.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2264" data-original-width="2844" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG84LBxca2uBIwzVZmhdjQdnp3-yNvpAx-7ZZnHNXncR6I_hs7_qCfu0bQy5SkG2LS1WMLOY_5YofN0IpVXMC_hyzzwiHuL9H4GhjR2a-SUH1n__CBl8ng4ay0BMGZ4LlhHOP42KeQAlMiYA30yGys85GrwShLFlQBwP4FaiII_BNjxzlDZ5gFg6P-4jQ/s320/right%202nd%20top.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>3. <b>Right side, 2nd from top</b>. A fair bit of non-fiction on this shelf; Winston Churchill's The Gathering Storm, a book about the Yangtze river by Simon Winchester, 2 by Bill Bryson and at the far end, one about Elizabeth 1st & a book about spending money (I think it was picked up in one of our auction lots at the Cumberland auction. So what else? Oh, Glinda of Oz from my collection of L. Frank Baum books (lots still to read), an Anthony Berkeley mystery, Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie and Lost Horizon by James Hilton.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis1gcfCftCB6wivGQVLq9I4bQR_Hh6Z__nvWL7DEgOQv8zOFkptoPigM1_-cvNTZ9lz7395jXQkrwQDgnmyOsdx5pouWrILYDnGc4zLvLBxRIjvXQYpZfehr3Q1iuMDNbsJtmgx3RAIKI2tHzltIDrJt10Ov3LTeV9tEGdlqIinbjCcUbNVK9CZbD8JUk/s2427/right%20bot%20left.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2427" data-original-width="2112" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis1gcfCftCB6wivGQVLq9I4bQR_Hh6Z__nvWL7DEgOQv8zOFkptoPigM1_-cvNTZ9lz7395jXQkrwQDgnmyOsdx5pouWrILYDnGc4zLvLBxRIjvXQYpZfehr3Q1iuMDNbsJtmgx3RAIKI2tHzltIDrJt10Ov3LTeV9tEGdlqIinbjCcUbNVK9CZbD8JUk/s320/right%20bot%20left.JPG" width="278" /></a></div>4. <b>Right side, 3rd from top, left side</b>. Mostly collectibles here, some from A Gentler Time. Just out of sight on the left is an England / Wales 'Never Get Lost' NGL road guide from 1927. After that, a 1957 edition of Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott, a great edition of The Pickwick Papers by Dickens (I remember reading in high school). Then a book I bought for Jo one Christmas, a 1925 book, The Ross Guide of Home Furnishing and Decoration. Finally you've got early editions of Dombey and Sons (Dickens) and Vanity Fair (Thackeray).<p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8tI0n8Xe_E8dmm3qjPkrMC2RwXLWNDGHAnH83HR6kcS8pVCeXkP_6Ka58yFEQptPPIrS5sP0b7gpZ4DRVUZzaxfeFYv_dBOmqdWpcYsxvP9nCx3kMdzU5quXJgn4Yx7aNIL9E34TebOYBP5LBiCQQuCjz95kvl9TwDI2GmvgXgruxJReanYe-FimkYO4/s2332/right%20bottom%20right.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2332" data-original-width="2233" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8tI0n8Xe_E8dmm3qjPkrMC2RwXLWNDGHAnH83HR6kcS8pVCeXkP_6Ka58yFEQptPPIrS5sP0b7gpZ4DRVUZzaxfeFYv_dBOmqdWpcYsxvP9nCx3kMdzU5quXJgn4Yx7aNIL9E34TebOYBP5LBiCQQuCjz95kvl9TwDI2GmvgXgruxJReanYe-FimkYO4/s320/right%20bottom%20right.JPG" width="306" /></a></div>5. <b>Right side, 3rd from top, far right</b>. Between these two collections of books are more of Jo's perfume bottles. They really are quite lovely. The first book is one I found... I'm not sure where, maybe Russell Books in Victoria. It's by A. Conan Doyle when he worked as a reporter covering the Boer War. It was published in 1901 and was a fascinating story, filled with fantastic maps. The next four are my mother's high school English books, plays by Shakespeare and Kim by Rudyard Kipling. Then there is a leather bound copy of Nicholas Nickleby by Dickens (another book I've enjoyed) and finally The Life of Alfred the Great. Indications are it was published circa 1850, so it's a mite old.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLbJXc2XyJG8mYvwmnWiIO7YxVpRxFvYektKigRfQ5dZSooejsFF_GwyarK-6R1GDxe6BnNO7aRax5QqmRVfe6eq37NLDdCVrIm0RwSFuadpF0xkGi_4LzGLFodOJw1Hnr7_RCV8YpQcbN2aCv17juzdKRZ8X2EV3DpQQF67658nyC6-P5imPNrKpsVg/s2466/right%20radio%20shelf.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="2466" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLbJXc2XyJG8mYvwmnWiIO7YxVpRxFvYektKigRfQ5dZSooejsFF_GwyarK-6R1GDxe6BnNO7aRax5QqmRVfe6eq37NLDdCVrIm0RwSFuadpF0xkGi_4LzGLFodOJw1Hnr7_RCV8YpQcbN2aCv17juzdKRZ8X2EV3DpQQF67658nyC6-P5imPNrKpsVg/s320/right%20radio%20shelf.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>6. <b>Right side, radio shelf</b>. On this shelf, if you check the first picture, there is an old tube radio that Jo and I bought... I just asked her and we're not sure where, but I think it might have been at a now-closed antique store in Courtney called Second Wind. It still works, at least the last time I turned it on. It could pick up some talk radio stations in Vancouver. Anyway, the books beside it were selected by Jo because they all had red spines. It's an odd collection. You've got my daughter, Jennifer's published Master's thesis, some books on furnishings and movie stars and movies, an old Pears Encyclopedia, my Canadian Cub book from 1963 and finally a zipped bridge set. So as I say, some odd books. I'm sure Jennifer might take exception to calling her thesis an odd book, but it's all meant as a term of affection, 😀👌<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw6POheVPwgvWiUdngcH4C2dPNMsWfaOdKTZqTNe2y7JnK7CYvCP8wyfxvwkBUdGvS8hyfB8_gxNJbW25UNlj6XTst654hD_Fixz2Pw15vqlrzFK1W3NCshHy3XQXz2QM8_dx9JhiJNpU6Gmgo5XAWg2uxXQwMREsZmwPT3p6ZYGe3_WjcPyd76jao6LY/s3265/right%20side%20bot%20favorites.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1471" data-original-width="3265" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw6POheVPwgvWiUdngcH4C2dPNMsWfaOdKTZqTNe2y7JnK7CYvCP8wyfxvwkBUdGvS8hyfB8_gxNJbW25UNlj6XTst654hD_Fixz2Pw15vqlrzFK1W3NCshHy3XQXz2QM8_dx9JhiJNpU6Gmgo5XAWg2uxXQwMREsZmwPT3p6ZYGe3_WjcPyd76jao6LY/s320/right%20side%20bot%20favorites.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>7. <b>Bottom shelf.</b> I don't know why I didn't take a photo of the shelf 2nd from the bottom. It contains a variety of books and magazines for the most part dealing with one of Jo's favorite past times, house design. She needs to go through it and maybe vet a bit. The bottom shelf contains some favorites. I vet periodically. It contains a mix of mysteries, Sci Fi and even some horror. Authors like Poul Anderson (Sci Fi), Isaac Asimov (his Casebook of the Black Widowers series, mysteries), Leigh Brackett (who writes both mystery and Sci Fi), Mike Carey (his Felix Castor horror / fantasy series; in the same vein as the Dresden files), DJ Cherryh (Sci Fi, I'm a late comer to her writing.), John Creasey (as prolific as they come; this is his Baron series), Liz Evans (British mystery writer, a la Sue Grafton), Jonathan Gash (he wrote the Lovejoy books. Have you ever seen the series?), Michael Gilbert (excellent mysteries), O Master Caliban by Phyllis Gotlieb (a Canadian writer of excellent Sci Fi), Edward Grierson (mysteries), James Herbert's The Fog and The Lair (great gruesome horror), China Mieville (Sci Fi, a new discovery and a great writer), Peter Temple who writes the Australian Jack Irish books (great TV series and I'm enjoying the books so far), Hilary Waugh (American mystery writer, in a similar vein to one of my favorites Margaret Millar) and finally, John Wyndham's The Chrysalids (one of my first and favorite Sci Fi authors).<p></p><p>So that's the right side of the shelves done for your entertainment. I'll finish off with the bottom shelves in the next couple of posts, lots of hidden enjoyment. Have a great week!.</p>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-25195518129015206292024-02-05T16:21:00.000-08:002024-02-05T16:21:40.934-08:00New Books<p>On Sunday I went to the Comox Valley Rotary Club's Book Sale. There used to be one or two a year, usually for a week each time. They seem to have more a year now and just hold them over a weekend. Either way, there are good deals and I can usually find a few books. This time a small bag of books (I picked about 16) cost me $10.00. You can't go wrong with that, even if I picked up a couple I already had. So for your entertainment and book ideas, here are a few that I picked out. Oh and I'll also include one that arrived at Books4Brains for me this morning and a couple of others that arrived at the end of January. Are you ready?</p><p><b>Some New Books</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNjmViDBX1mM9PvKWP-hHzX5QtzPIY6rzgTDftwVzDKV_wxq8A6SBJH-2wkgfIO9bREJmnHU4MVdfbOwiPWNL3NsP2GQVe6P8TWLH7Pb2-fIM77lQzu2kA6wC1koJ9ccvd0dJuXCkyU6ou4oZPTUcBWo6rhYJ5jFOoSItNkiSH9DWs54sjG6u7WW1OHR0/s475/violent%20stars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNjmViDBX1mM9PvKWP-hHzX5QtzPIY6rzgTDftwVzDKV_wxq8A6SBJH-2wkgfIO9bREJmnHU4MVdfbOwiPWNL3NsP2GQVe6P8TWLH7Pb2-fIM77lQzu2kA6wC1koJ9ccvd0dJuXCkyU6ou4oZPTUcBWo6rhYJ5jFOoSItNkiSH9DWs54sjG6u7WW1OHR0/w133-h200/violent%20stars.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>1. <b>Violent Stars</b> by <b>Phyllis Gotlieb</b> (Lyhhrt Trilogy #2 / 1999). One of my favorite Sci Fi authors.<p></p><p>"<span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">An interstellar alien corporation run by aliens was thwarted in its plans to exploit genetically altered slaves. Now, in an attempt to keep it's case from ever coming to court, a judge is murdered on Khagodis--the planet where the amphibious human slaves were first bred--and the man who first broke the slave ring must find a way to bring these villains to justice."</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4RNl7FTwgzrpPJOFNOG-FmGOoCHd88U-bEu-w1tF0iXAoeNwFFmAYv4dPBN3BHgPkFWVc3rzSd1_0i-Qqd4pmgcmUIWECwxEZvIBPRSR3z4iBFt8DceWFWnEeAw7cCUNqPjvDkhJlK2oBhjHQhrY7MozTMdWRgooyMMimKmqF2zj7LMfCUkPDaWD_sTc/s2475/boy%20on%20bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2475" data-original-width="1650" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4RNl7FTwgzrpPJOFNOG-FmGOoCHd88U-bEu-w1tF0iXAoeNwFFmAYv4dPBN3BHgPkFWVc3rzSd1_0i-Qqd4pmgcmUIWECwxEZvIBPRSR3z4iBFt8DceWFWnEeAw7cCUNqPjvDkhJlK2oBhjHQhrY7MozTMdWRgooyMMimKmqF2zj7LMfCUkPDaWD_sTc/w133-h200/boy%20on%20bridge.jpg" width="133" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">2. <b>The Boy on the Bridge</b> by <b>M.R. Carey</b> (Girl with the Goods #2 / 2017). I've been enjoying Carey's Felix Castor supernatural series. This one sounded good. I have the first book on order.</span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Once upon a time, in a land blighted by terror, there was a very clever boy.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">The people thought the boy could save them, so they opened their gates and sent him out into the world.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">To where the monsters lived."</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9uXBoZxpTPzNhctSMdifQ99qz5MrTTgHpv3RXaHYReLOmYtj4Zkfsi7LCCfrRHdsXsK1cCMe7bkyG2VQispHfvuD_cKVpPLcuPGXvXkTXXqqd1LZ0auTYQthGThMCm7ot8s3gz5W2ThICRXEFXcUM5rcJ6TptUXDammgZJD4AeoG2cl3VBfT3LE7D71I/s2400/Beale%20street.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="1556" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9uXBoZxpTPzNhctSMdifQ99qz5MrTTgHpv3RXaHYReLOmYtj4Zkfsi7LCCfrRHdsXsK1cCMe7bkyG2VQispHfvuD_cKVpPLcuPGXvXkTXXqqd1LZ0auTYQthGThMCm7ot8s3gz5W2ThICRXEFXcUM5rcJ6TptUXDammgZJD4AeoG2cl3VBfT3LE7D71I/w129-h200/Beale%20street.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>3. <b>If Beale Street Could Talk</b> by <b>James Baldwin</b> (Fic / 1974). I've never read any of James Baldwin's books but this was turned into a successful movie so it's a good starting point, maybe.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In this honest and stunning novel, James Baldwin has given America a moving story of love in the face of injustice. Told through the eyes of Tish, a nineteen-year-old girl in love with Fonny, a young sculptor who is the father of her child, Baldwin's story mixes the sweet and the sad. Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but Fonny is falsely accused of a terrible crime and imprisoned. Their families set out to clear his name, and as they face an uncertain future, the young lovers experience a kaleidoscope of emotions — affection, despair, and hope. In a love story that evokes the blues, where passion and sadness are inevitably intertwined, Baldwin has created two characters so alive and profoundly realized that they are unforgettably ingrained in the American psyche."</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEkXWgKBUB_kGS3DJbMoMa8u1ofDEuFs5O7x6J2c2KGAzkjKwZZWbGSXTqrhtbkknqkMyCOMcDJ1f4vWBKXnMFhgQnbrmbfBseiAJ0tir3MCZXhBg0pDfnMX170SO2x-vRFjRxIPsOSGWn9XFefS7jzU2ovLSryWKOFpbmBzpUmyTC9ZZnCzO_q3ljyHA/s475/jagged%20orbit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="286" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEkXWgKBUB_kGS3DJbMoMa8u1ofDEuFs5O7x6J2c2KGAzkjKwZZWbGSXTqrhtbkknqkMyCOMcDJ1f4vWBKXnMFhgQnbrmbfBseiAJ0tir3MCZXhBg0pDfnMX170SO2x-vRFjRxIPsOSGWn9XFefS7jzU2ovLSryWKOFpbmBzpUmyTC9ZZnCzO_q3ljyHA/w121-h200/jagged%20orbit.jpg" width="121" /></a></div>4. <b>The Jagged Orbit</b> by <b>John Brunner</b> (1969). I've enjoyed a few of Brunner's Sci Fi stories. This one sounded interesting.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matthew Flamen, last of the networks' spoolpigeons, is desperate for a big story. He needs it to keep his audience & his job. There's no shortage of possibilities: the Gottschalk cartel is fomenting trouble among the knees in order to sell their latest armaments to the blanks; which ties in nicely with the fact that something big is brewing with the X Patriots. It looks as if the inconceivable is about to happen & that one of Britain's most dangerous revolutionaries is going to be given a visa to enter America. Then there's the story that just falls into his lap. The one that suggests that the respected Director of the NY State Mental Hospital is a charlatan."</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQX8fAf354T_6jAnalQiUpJubx4ERFEjI6hmI4B3rTjTYA-Vsz-8pmXkaIqM8kKUEMog8Du7UVY_ozklOP4zWtGufaeypMl9TwCy47SX3B_mLxpy9PVxQKg045-3wsd7qYpnXdqCO-tAUUy6qH-DWiVFYEOKsCuasx01LpGvgNtY6FbiIRfSkPN9cTJgg/s469/prince%20for%20Insp%20West.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="293" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQX8fAf354T_6jAnalQiUpJubx4ERFEjI6hmI4B3rTjTYA-Vsz-8pmXkaIqM8kKUEMog8Du7UVY_ozklOP4zWtGufaeypMl9TwCy47SX3B_mLxpy9PVxQKg045-3wsd7qYpnXdqCO-tAUUy6qH-DWiVFYEOKsCuasx01LpGvgNtY6FbiIRfSkPN9cTJgg/w125-h200/prince%20for%20Insp%20West.jpg" width="125" /></a></div>5. <b>A Prince for Inspector West</b> by <b>John Creasey</b> (Inspector West #20 / 1956). I've enjoyed quite a few of Creasey's books, whether he's writing as JJ Marric, Creasey, Gordon Dawlish. I've not yet tried this series.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">An assassination in Milan, caught on camera. Then the cameraman too is murdered ..."</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIwEi82-xObRTikYCDc1jKi9iqBOzswkBQH9E2Qv8EufEWXRvKBIkhVJUMzJHCl0d9uB7xMB0UR4HvmRfrzgJLUdNoBH8RlbzmylNkZyweJqFFR4i5UgGatUARclUE28TB_6rG72_uY2n1CygkmLRZFaxSX2zk9iI9gDhFSoRqAWpodfm5dKqWdwCcWVQ/s475/song%20dog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="296" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIwEi82-xObRTikYCDc1jKi9iqBOzswkBQH9E2Qv8EufEWXRvKBIkhVJUMzJHCl0d9uB7xMB0UR4HvmRfrzgJLUdNoBH8RlbzmylNkZyweJqFFR4i5UgGatUARclUE28TB_6rG72_uY2n1CygkmLRZFaxSX2zk9iI9gDhFSoRqAWpodfm5dKqWdwCcWVQ/w124-h200/song%20dog.jpg" width="124" /></a></div>6. <b>The Song Dog</b> by <b>James McClure</b> (Kramer & Zondi #8 / 1991). I've read one of this crime series set in South Africa and quite enjoyed.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">The year is 1962. Young Lieutenant Tromp Kramer of the Trekkersburg Murder and Robbery Squad has been ordered up to Jafini, a small, dusty town in northern Zululand, to investigate the "hero's death" of the town's chief detective, Maaties Kritzinger—another Afrikaner maverick, and one with many secrets. Kramer finds himself increasingly identifying with the victim as the investigation proceeds.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">And then his path crosses that of Bantu Detective Sergeant Mickey Zondi, who is trying to locate a multiple killer whose summary execution will quiet the spirits of his ancestors. Despite the racial differences, the two men sense a kinship ... one that might prove dangerous in rural South Africa in the year of Nelson Mandela's imprisonment."</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh5IT8EaC-WYDxBUsO1aQWMliZ44HJJSgW9bCo1w3f8MgxZJTkjpomQSuLpmD_D4riB8D-5cN9yaJLZJeFs2WhhEGWo7E7KBzeA9nG72SWj7egR_5fnR0ScTijEGS6F1xBvksk4bM2BZo6DjAkGICpkdIjGOpAlhGtNJs2DlTdetIli0rOuCfnTnVYtVc/s475/murder%20in%20blue%20room.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="286" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh5IT8EaC-WYDxBUsO1aQWMliZ44HJJSgW9bCo1w3f8MgxZJTkjpomQSuLpmD_D4riB8D-5cN9yaJLZJeFs2WhhEGWo7E7KBzeA9nG72SWj7egR_5fnR0ScTijEGS6F1xBvksk4bM2BZo6DjAkGICpkdIjGOpAlhGtNJs2DlTdetIli0rOuCfnTnVYtVc/w121-h200/murder%20in%20blue%20room.jpg" width="121" /></a></div>7. <b>Murder in the Blue Room</b> by <b>Elliot Roosevelt</b> (Eleanor Roosevelt #8 / 1990). It always happens this way. I read a new author and then order the next book and all of a sudden other books in the series crop up locally. </span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When a pretty, young Press Office secretary is bludgeoned to death in the Blue Room of the White House, Eleanor Roosevelt begins to investigate, questioning a house full of visiting Russian diplomats."</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Ed. Note. #2 arrived in the mail today.)</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR3hrVrtnK45T5BAMrPOmJubfJhpPDwD-btwHXNulq1DdTfwDRsmTRILvNssXw9uwinTUhPAcqtA9Ghc9WWCw80MQEubiq7NN28fqziXvORv7L9pgKWsUnrwOmOQ5w1lQudX6ZjHSsjIUplEOr0xhc6OcxyxxdXnpijuQKMHdxNFH0TbeyZCrdSAa-Kd4/s400/fall%20of%20angels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="267" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR3hrVrtnK45T5BAMrPOmJubfJhpPDwD-btwHXNulq1DdTfwDRsmTRILvNssXw9uwinTUhPAcqtA9Ghc9WWCw80MQEubiq7NN28fqziXvORv7L9pgKWsUnrwOmOQ5w1lQudX6ZjHSsjIUplEOr0xhc6OcxyxxdXnpijuQKMHdxNFH0TbeyZCrdSAa-Kd4/w134-h200/fall%20of%20angels.jpg" width="134" /></a></div>8. <b>Fall of Angels</b> by <b>Barbara Cleverly </b>(Inspector Redfyre #1 / 2018). I've previously been enjoying Cleverly's Joe Sandiland mysteries; starting in India, then moving back to Scotland Yard. I've since discovered she's started two other series, an archeological mystery series featuring Leatitia Talbot and this series of two books thus far, Fall of Angels and Invitation to Die. I found both books at the Rotary Club sale and they were like new.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">England 1923: Detective Inspector John Redfyre is a godsend to the Cambridge CID. The ancient university city is at war with town versus gown, male versus female, press versus the police force and everyone versus the undergraduates. Redfyre, young, handsome and capable, is a survivor of the Great War. Born and raised among the city’s colleges, he has access to the educated élite who run these institutions, a society previously deemed impenetrable by local law enforcement.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">When Redfyre’s Aunt Hetty hands him a front-row ticket to the year’s St. Barnabas College Christmas concert, he is looking forward to a right merrie yuletide noyse from a trumpet soloist, accompanied by the organ. He is intrigued to find that the trumpet player is—scandalously—a young woman. And Juno Proudfoot is a beautiful and talented one at that. Such choice of a performer is unacceptable in conservative academic circles.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1e1915;">Redfyre finds himself anxious throughout a performance in which Juno charms and captivates her audience, and his unease proves well founded when she tumbles headlong down a staircase after curtain fall. He finds evidence that someone carefully planned her death. Has her showing provoked a dangerous, vengeful woman-hater to take action?</span></span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">When more Cambridge women are murdered, Redfyre realizes that some of his dearest friends and his family may become targets, and—equally alarmingly—that the killer might be within his own close circle."</span></span><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie3pP5x79px1nQXVy6xxAl4WKxA8pIjgo2nPFnrLdhJ0fItBLk3JwcE8q-K4_lgRwx6pdY6OOjMJQ-M3Ivlyob_qhYnhE7flpyEYIdoYy8_sDBuzaya6UTWfmbOTDVgyz0dr9RZZHVDivkrAl-zT2s_7e7MJhoMHmTgipcZFeByxCqSDOhHLEpj8wWV-4/s475/whispering%20death.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="316" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie3pP5x79px1nQXVy6xxAl4WKxA8pIjgo2nPFnrLdhJ0fItBLk3JwcE8q-K4_lgRwx6pdY6OOjMJQ-M3Ivlyob_qhYnhE7flpyEYIdoYy8_sDBuzaya6UTWfmbOTDVgyz0dr9RZZHVDivkrAl-zT2s_7e7MJhoMHmTgipcZFeByxCqSDOhHLEpj8wWV-4/w133-h200/whispering%20death.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>9. <b>Whispering Death</b> by <b>Garry Disher </b>(Peninsular Crimes #6 / 2011). I've enjoyed the first two books in this series, a police procedural set in Australia, very much. I really look forward to continuing with the series.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hal Challis is in trouble at home and dressed down by the boss for speaking out about police budget cuts; missing his lover, Ellen Destry, who is overseas on a study tour. But there's plenty to keep his mind off his problems. A rapist in a police uniform stalks Challis's Peninsula beat, there is a serial armed robber headed in his direction and a home invasion that's a little too close to home. Not to mention a very clever, very mysterious female cat burglar who may or may not be planning something on Challis's patch. Meanwhile, at the Waterloo Police Station, Challis finds his officers have their own issues. Scobie Sutton, still struggling with his wife's depression, seems to be headed for a career crisis; and something very interesting is going on between Constable Pam Murphy and Jeanne Schiff, the feisty young sergeant on assignment from the Sex Crimes Unit."</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl-KUIkA-OTTWhgMNrXv-Ts9aDx_IXOqtUz4lcnW9zxL2X9mei_Q8beSMIXkR_sBPu4nY46o01-AOhpsoRP-oRm5a2eOQp-lXYUNeOTVMBhSBO2hjlqPU-ia2-gKkFjHMJ5YGpTiLCcq6z98aok4AeLHrqS-C_tHRNr5WVhJAHEqeiKnDIkJewb3VMy88/s473/field%20guide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl-KUIkA-OTTWhgMNrXv-Ts9aDx_IXOqtUz4lcnW9zxL2X9mei_Q8beSMIXkR_sBPu4nY46o01-AOhpsoRP-oRm5a2eOQp-lXYUNeOTVMBhSBO2hjlqPU-ia2-gKkFjHMJ5YGpTiLCcq6z98aok4AeLHrqS-C_tHRNr5WVhJAHEqeiKnDIkJewb3VMy88/w134-h200/field%20guide.jpg" width="134" /></a></div>10. <b>The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field Guide </b>by <b>Tony Terlizzi & Holly Black</b> (Spiderwick #1 / 2003). I've enjoyed some of the fantasy I've read by Holly Black and this YA series sounded interesting.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">After finding a mysterious, handmade field guide in the attic of the ramshackle old mansion they’ve just moved into, Jared, his twin brother Simon, and their older sister, Mallory, discover that there’s a magical and maybe dangerous world existing parallel to our own—the world of Faerie.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">The Grace children want to share their story, but the faeries will do everything possible to stop them. . . ."</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">There you go. See any books that interest you?<br /></span><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span><p><br /></p></div></div>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-89057191285844447552024-02-02T11:35:00.000-08:002024-02-02T11:35:55.700-08:00For Janice - Books Part 16<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPgvpJDVgIWSv8xvqDb3SKhmxkD3zDPFreJ-ipVi2hWpDadDSa5EOjBSoEvCToiqs-pBN1MT4lkwCTraSQbJ-UxQ9Z9XipAnGeLOtcrxqyfOZgo-d3BM9B5DrlQe7dh2HUQBZSYK4Dd7vqFoCXaBg56JmhNz6rfYT93Thf8nubgTetrpHZT1asDWW2e_s/s3648/Study_3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPgvpJDVgIWSv8xvqDb3SKhmxkD3zDPFreJ-ipVi2hWpDadDSa5EOjBSoEvCToiqs-pBN1MT4lkwCTraSQbJ-UxQ9Z9XipAnGeLOtcrxqyfOZgo-d3BM9B5DrlQe7dh2HUQBZSYK4Dd7vqFoCXaBg56JmhNz6rfYT93Thf8nubgTetrpHZT1asDWW2e_s/s320/Study_3.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The study, middle shelves</b></td></tr></tbody></table>Happy February 2nd and the beginning of a new weekend. The puppies have had their mid morning walk and are now looking forward to 11sies (aka lunch). They can wait a bit. I'll continue with my look at the bookshelves in the Den / Study. Today I'll do the middle group of shelves as they aren't overloaded with books. Let's start from the left top and work down to the right bottom.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPTa_NHxtbdc61Xbvp-UcUqQWjTD3R9lqxS5nQ2b6ONAp3LEprFZIPu1xM62naW3khIgevfay5i-TW98ij38kaw1g6dI4p3xTPnnrgmuWwKAwpUxVZChIJJp1cikb3LyZIAD27xP6KMgs11S1NHqZrO-I4WTPDNhqgVQMBV_rtOMNUiwl7Cl0T-JbTBNk/s2563/2nd%20left%20top.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2563" data-original-width="1501" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPTa_NHxtbdc61Xbvp-UcUqQWjTD3R9lqxS5nQ2b6ONAp3LEprFZIPu1xM62naW3khIgevfay5i-TW98ij38kaw1g6dI4p3xTPnnrgmuWwKAwpUxVZChIJJp1cikb3LyZIAD27xP6KMgs11S1NHqZrO-I4WTPDNhqgVQMBV_rtOMNUiwl7Cl0T-JbTBNk/s320/2nd%20left%20top.JPG" width="187" /></a></div><br />1. <b>Left side middle, top</b>. These are mostly interior design books that Jo brought with her from England, along with a couple she found here. You've got a Laura Ashley - Home Decoration and Weekend Projects from House and Home. The book partly hidden on the left is a table top book on Leading Men. The rest of the shelf has some of Jo's perfume bottles (she has a really lovely collection) and some vases.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh97_hp0_6hg_N0QHpABjqhYyxUJ3ATAG_u-fPKOaIWH7tr9m2m6e5-bczLIZPNySkVh_EM5I8l7zkcQyR6uWIIyvE8c4bxEQgbIGARa2MDcVmtdakZF4_KJgD98kkkuOhHRNYPXwBq_7g_1iGQREYhi5kXNjvitcY4ZxVaZCHf_SuD4DNQzuSd75fbiEs/s2504/2nd%20left%20mid.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2504" data-original-width="1805" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh97_hp0_6hg_N0QHpABjqhYyxUJ3ATAG_u-fPKOaIWH7tr9m2m6e5-bczLIZPNySkVh_EM5I8l7zkcQyR6uWIIyvE8c4bxEQgbIGARa2MDcVmtdakZF4_KJgD98kkkuOhHRNYPXwBq_7g_1iGQREYhi5kXNjvitcY4ZxVaZCHf_SuD4DNQzuSd75fbiEs/s320/2nd%20left%20mid.JPG" width="231" /></a></div>2. <b>Left side middle right</b>. This shelf has more of Jo's perfume bottle collection and a lovely glass dish. I think she may have brought that with her, but I'm not sure. There are a variety of books; Michael Chabon - The Final Solution, Dr Bonnie Henry - Be Kind, Be Calm, Be Safe, a Ken Bruen mystery, Amanda Gorman's poetry, a lovely collection and a Joseph Kanon spy story.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggwd9e4SG5vWFjRB1D7XXysTf4o88Lj7YXQgeqOKzpNzgpnQWs1_hQTQcOKiPUOW96-aeu4NbDVNspK7-e3xIyg2vITQPOC9yCNIL6n7uUja4NrYafM6woe_xlXt6uWbRUsNCZzhpm3HdWakg3xhWCQOBNYXV1smQyh4kE_l0MDt2nLTdHhtxWZkZzEsg/s2445/2nd%20left%20bottom%20lf.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2445" data-original-width="2175" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggwd9e4SG5vWFjRB1D7XXysTf4o88Lj7YXQgeqOKzpNzgpnQWs1_hQTQcOKiPUOW96-aeu4NbDVNspK7-e3xIyg2vITQPOC9yCNIL6n7uUja4NrYafM6woe_xlXt6uWbRUsNCZzhpm3HdWakg3xhWCQOBNYXV1smQyh4kE_l0MDt2nLTdHhtxWZkZzEsg/s320/2nd%20left%20bottom%20lf.JPG" width="285" /></a></div>3. <b>Left side, bottom left</b>. Besides a few perfume bottles in the middle, this side has mostly Jo's design books, one by Joanna Gaines (we used to watch their design show, Fixer Upper. The remainder are a few of her Country Homes & Interiors magazines. We have a number located throughout the house.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFunoVtzxBAbEEw46z5NOukK2bt1mkwwRPOWLAk1mmHsxcW9a6HCXLP7oduNmUIKJkHCiYnU4JWd-0bpz-25l8XwIjUiE8hzMPQSq5P5BWfso3rYzBmC3uz_tIJrfVmi-2L5p6RoNeJE1V12IohkGMh-cMRlchpPuECWTyZq2cJpFd1lpxciiTUmnOrac/s2566/2nd%20left%20bottom%20rt.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2566" data-original-width="2453" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFunoVtzxBAbEEw46z5NOukK2bt1mkwwRPOWLAk1mmHsxcW9a6HCXLP7oduNmUIKJkHCiYnU4JWd-0bpz-25l8XwIjUiE8hzMPQSq5P5BWfso3rYzBmC3uz_tIJrfVmi-2L5p6RoNeJE1V12IohkGMh-cMRlchpPuECWTyZq2cJpFd1lpxciiTUmnOrac/s320/2nd%20left%20bottom%20rt.JPG" width="306" /></a></div>4. <b>Left side, bottom right</b>. You can see one of Jo's lovely perfume bottles there, holding up one of my Xmas presents to her; The Wombles books. If you're not familiar with it, The Wombles was a kid's TV show in Britain. The bottom book is one of Bill Bryson's travel books. Jo really liked his writing and I bought that as a Xmas present for her. I read him more now I think. The blue book is a character study of the Prince of Wales, one of the earlier ones I think. We bought it in an antiquey shop I believe. The final book is an Australian mystery featuring Aboriginal police inspector, Napoleon Bonaparte. I've enjoyed one of the books so far.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitM69AvixbIituFVv-Jn2VVfwRh4x3gZj2OG7R3OgOnc7MaE9G1YAosVhGQ_4Uxwflb_Nu7LOYu3rV47Y8yi3vBC92Q0dpTvZilRSnlvfQdsrFKn_EzoR-k8ZrWQJMk6nsxoWJcfCakp-E3v1yEk9LUl8GgGfR1xizALOk6rP9lY6qoArsQ9gLdaK8ljs/s2827/2nd%20right%20top.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="2827" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitM69AvixbIituFVv-Jn2VVfwRh4x3gZj2OG7R3OgOnc7MaE9G1YAosVhGQ_4Uxwflb_Nu7LOYu3rV47Y8yi3vBC92Q0dpTvZilRSnlvfQdsrFKn_EzoR-k8ZrWQJMk6nsxoWJcfCakp-E3v1yEk9LUl8GgGfR1xizALOk6rP9lY6qoArsQ9gLdaK8ljs/s320/2nd%20right%20top.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>5. <b>Right side, top</b>. Jo organized this shelf for the colors of the books and the various sizes. Over the years, it might have been adjusted somewhat but it's been pretty well established. From left to right - an autobiography from English comic Dawn French (of French & Saunders fame), the thin book is a mystery from Baroness Orczy, The Old Man in the Corner, Gregory Maguire's Wicked, a design book, Judi Dench's autobiography, TCM's Leading Men, White Hot (design book), the 1st book in one of my favorite mystery series, Bruno Chief of Police (bought in Munro's Books in Victoria), another autobiography, this one of Martha Stewart and two more design books.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwKvGDDeQzxXapqOyZX7vB05dpBWWlIR7XDUSQA4eIwOi8bhWkHUcZfuZxKd6cm8HO6dRZM9A0hTY9A7h9uKXXqXBsEme3Dfpk2tsZcVt0JCKNNR0yhkOsA6RPfBYIdXHdl2iKJ-9OyBFFkhuU69x5_KwXoRoNEjUuFBxtNrO3rFVjGxLS2mFkfAk7D7I/s2629/2nd%20right%20mid%201a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2629" data-original-width="2300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwKvGDDeQzxXapqOyZX7vB05dpBWWlIR7XDUSQA4eIwOi8bhWkHUcZfuZxKd6cm8HO6dRZM9A0hTY9A7h9uKXXqXBsEme3Dfpk2tsZcVt0JCKNNR0yhkOsA6RPfBYIdXHdl2iKJ-9OyBFFkhuU69x5_KwXoRoNEjUuFBxtNrO3rFVjGxLS2mFkfAk7D7I/s320/2nd%20right%20mid%201a.JPG" width="280" /></a></div>6. <b>Right side, middle left</b>. There used to be a store on 5th street in Courtenay called A Gentler Time, right next to another of my favorite book stores, ABC Books (both long since closed down). Anyway, A Gentler Time had lovely collectibles, tea cups, paintings, and some neat books. Most of the books on this shelf came from there. The three George Eliot books marbled covers and inside at least one, it says it was given as a give in 1894. The John Dryden poetical works were thought to have been published in 1893. The small book on the right is one of my mothers school books published in 1936; Words, Their Spelling Pronunciation Definition and Application. There is one book you can't see on the left as it's fairly thin; A Collection of Player's tobacco cards of Military Uniforms of the British Empire Overseas (I'm not sure what year but it's very nicely done and cost 3 pence. The final book is an Atlas of the World from 1931. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRdLqdTSxpGJ7DuCXXQg_xZAMnZVX6KYl66kdh0Bc1-cWmxd_yzqBwz6UqxakaZdm0WTIUOJUE2tMhqihxTdWUhK6qKk0dBvmF7CRspBYTyEK4Mn9eqI8STnfAiJpFSGmP6VHU5CZtFZIHy2XoyvSTs8Wg7D6Q2HlabCg5DxidN5KAjiObZOSmVIVjsm0/s2727/2nd%20right%201b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2614" data-original-width="2727" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRdLqdTSxpGJ7DuCXXQg_xZAMnZVX6KYl66kdh0Bc1-cWmxd_yzqBwz6UqxakaZdm0WTIUOJUE2tMhqihxTdWUhK6qKk0dBvmF7CRspBYTyEK4Mn9eqI8STnfAiJpFSGmP6VHU5CZtFZIHy2XoyvSTs8Wg7D6Q2HlabCg5DxidN5KAjiObZOSmVIVjsm0/s320/2nd%20right%201b.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>7. <b>Right side, middle right</b>. Firstly, I bought that cricket ball in Dubai when I was stationed there. 🏏 Now more collectible books, some bought at A Gentler Time and other places and some I got from my parents. The top book is our family Bible. It's definitely seen better days but it's my folks had it for as long as I can remember and I'm sure longer that that. The bottom book is my mother's family Lutheran Bible that they brought with them from Germany.. and yes, it's in German (published 1911). Working my way up from the bottom book, the next is The Poems of Elizabeth Browning (from A Gentler Time) given as a gift to someone in 1899. Then a lovely leather bound collection of Shakespeare's works from at least 1914 that Jo and I bought at a craft / antique fair in Chemainus. Then 14 Great Detective Stories from Poe, Doyle, Chesterton, etc that Jo and I found in our wanderings (1928), Then a leather bound book of Cranford by Mrs. Gaskell (once again, A Gentler Time) published in the late 1800s). Finally another of my mother's books, an Evangelical Lutheran Hymn Book from 1927. I have to say I do like old books. They have a texture and smell to them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUuRPsf84O1N0EHk4IhYzN7x_jSJp-SmqYi0hCFZHsXwXEJOGTZ2NHx7YEWiruZBMRq5irHFrygv9FfxlQzIpN3WKdYyxlZHoxQu-cp88BFYAElpresH6YDDRA39g3AJ7EcVqK4L0SsHhaY0Zym3EsTXfCL7YcYK05kPniTamtNpRrSxoA7vXkj7Ezuh8/s2478/2nd%20right%20bottom.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2478" data-original-width="2290" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUuRPsf84O1N0EHk4IhYzN7x_jSJp-SmqYi0hCFZHsXwXEJOGTZ2NHx7YEWiruZBMRq5irHFrygv9FfxlQzIpN3WKdYyxlZHoxQu-cp88BFYAElpresH6YDDRA39g3AJ7EcVqK4L0SsHhaY0Zym3EsTXfCL7YcYK05kPniTamtNpRrSxoA7vXkj7Ezuh8/s320/2nd%20right%20bottom.JPG" width="296" /></a></div>8. <b>Right side, bottom</b>. There are three collections of poetry on this shelf from Dorothy Parker. I discovered her ... not sure how actually but I like the humor in her poetry' Sunset Gun (1939), Not Much Fun (1999) and Enough Rope (1940). French Alley was a collectible book (1954) that I bought in a used book store that used to be in Victoria on Fort Street. I liked to go there when I was stationed down in Victoria. It was just up the road from the apartment Jo and I lived in. Then you've got another collection of poetry from Ursula K. Le Guin, Final Poems 2014 - 2018), Walkabout from James Vance Marshall. I remember watching the movie as a kid and had to try the book. Finally one of Jo's books. She really likes the stories of Cathy Kelly and I used to try and get her one for Xmas.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So there you go. A variety of books, ages, genres for you to check out. Enjoy and also enjoy your weekend.</div><p></p>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-10680946343769543422024-02-01T14:54:00.000-08:002024-02-01T14:54:32.026-08:00January 2024 Reading Summary<p>We've had a few rainy days but the past two have been glorious, 10℃ and sunny for the most part. Bonnie went down to the vet today (well, actually, I drove her) and got her latest glucose monitor attached. I'm going to use the phone app this time.. well, we'll see. Me = No technical wizard. It's currently charging up.. </p><p>So here it is, February 1, 2024 which means it's time for my first monthly reading update of 2024. I think I'm going to keep it a bit simpler this time. Let's see.</p><p><b>January 2024 Reading Update</b></p><p>(Reviews can be found in previous posts. Just scroll down to January 2024 and click and all of the posts for January will be opened) Overall, I completed 9 books in January, roughly 2300 pages in total.</p><p>1. <b>12 + 4 Reading Challenge - The Works of Ursula K. Le Guin.</b> (Completed 2 books in this challenge in January.)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9G8cPWRJH2-VXfdqWG6iNQdTQ9fy8vfIxovKrvnb5WiolAAbw1DDT5vOcWRh5_Z_da2wXBScVwrjUC-v4BxwZu1DHYn1IkDcZgVMR_lP_VP8qrnyNOoez4S1h_meoY38ea1fDT8W77LUUA7rJqd-Ij7nJeA2Uu9zeJtvDQLNbZFriSl2Nus-z55KMHxU/s475/Rocannon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="285" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9G8cPWRJH2-VXfdqWG6iNQdTQ9fy8vfIxovKrvnb5WiolAAbw1DDT5vOcWRh5_Z_da2wXBScVwrjUC-v4BxwZu1DHYn1IkDcZgVMR_lP_VP8qrnyNOoez4S1h_meoY38ea1fDT8W77LUUA7rJqd-Ij7nJeA2Uu9zeJtvDQLNbZFriSl2Nus-z55KMHxU/w120-h200/Rocannon.jpg" width="120" /></a></div>a. <b>Rocannon's World</b> (Hainish Cycle #1 / 1966). (3.5 stars). <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwaIDqDwjJc8N6d5ugvDGssGoiT-ax003YdlChhttxnMhBmPAYn-ufeWHMv3CeNGx9uScv_9CXkSapR0b4f7oE7Dwu0LuURtuN-xX2L9pvSyUlApV40-MCa6ZOtqmLmopIYakK6jJC3-pAisAWLzGteGywxluyHaUBqfNclSn76PATuAo0OqjMqXmnOMc/s475/Tehanu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="316" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwaIDqDwjJc8N6d5ugvDGssGoiT-ax003YdlChhttxnMhBmPAYn-ufeWHMv3CeNGx9uScv_9CXkSapR0b4f7oE7Dwu0LuURtuN-xX2L9pvSyUlApV40-MCa6ZOtqmLmopIYakK6jJC3-pAisAWLzGteGywxluyHaUBqfNclSn76PATuAo0OqjMqXmnOMc/w133-h200/Tehanu.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>b. <b>Tehanu</b> (Earthsea #4 / 1990) (4.5 stars) I think this was my favorite book of January)<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNFaU3b95DqchoOjTorrFPqkWy03pugYSWvYzM23S1l2gEPBHnjvE0f6bGm_DFs3swGLivEZbOSgOWPAnv-_4flXUJhskQEHJfnqCOG-PbJo2HNL_2zgF2Ttq6FgTZJ8XMWXJIDq9LC6FJxdLNi8Ag7xdaqsb7icmp_hv5sI_LcNfTI6VRc8bKr6lYs2Q/s356/Beginning%20Place.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="216" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNFaU3b95DqchoOjTorrFPqkWy03pugYSWvYzM23S1l2gEPBHnjvE0f6bGm_DFs3swGLivEZbOSgOWPAnv-_4flXUJhskQEHJfnqCOG-PbJo2HNL_2zgF2Ttq6FgTZJ8XMWXJIDq9LC6FJxdLNi8Ag7xdaqsb7icmp_hv5sI_LcNfTI6VRc8bKr6lYs2Q/w121-h200/Beginning%20Place.jpg" width="121" /></a></div>c. <b>Currently Reading - The Beginning Place</b> (1980). <p></p><p>"<span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A magical place across a creek provides sanctuary for two young people in flight from the banality of their daily lives, until their paradise turns into a hell on Earth that threatens to destroy them."</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzfaY8j2_BEYUHRmmgAB7yoaQenk0Jt9gaCAbH8tiy2dhcWAfOehlNeq7ze71OEKOVU6xmz2F1gPEk3PVAYj8mmfWUjTBt9A-cE86ro5cT_IhGbr9vqtnm-kALwy7dPVUXMLTMclZFnoPqxoGCol1XkhaBg1kwZs4crlbspS7uO-RhXPacW_nAkd4_gTU/s475/Very%20Far%20Away.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="309" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzfaY8j2_BEYUHRmmgAB7yoaQenk0Jt9gaCAbH8tiy2dhcWAfOehlNeq7ze71OEKOVU6xmz2F1gPEk3PVAYj8mmfWUjTBt9A-cE86ro5cT_IhGbr9vqtnm-kALwy7dPVUXMLTMclZFnoPqxoGCol1XkhaBg1kwZs4crlbspS7uO-RhXPacW_nAkd4_gTU/w130-h200/Very%20Far%20Away.jpg" width="130" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">d. <b>Next in Line - Very Far Away from Anywhere Else</b> (1976).</span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A slender, realistic story of a young man's coming of age, Very Far Away from Anywhere Else is one of the most inspiring novels Ursula K. Le Guin ever published. Owen is seventeen and smart. He knows what he wants to do with his life. But then he meets Natalie and he realizes he doesn't know anything much at all."</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2. <b>Series Challenge - Start, Continue or Finish a Series.</b></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3 books completed in this challenge in January.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiheDXGZZTWANedgSvdTUlAJfG956Fqi3bfgsM_VqkP_JHYO3Don5x0lU_b2WeZIHoQzlNEQk0PFekXjGrBm5CqqekWnRYusq3rpCBRQhyphenhyphen8s4_RFAGvdJfYQ22mMqzHFvEp7b9IlsBwBVjgop39RdANaJrjmF4pgRTzmjFqsbl6ymxOsJdVQ_hkHVxkEPg/s400/Doomsday%20Book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="245" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiheDXGZZTWANedgSvdTUlAJfG956Fqi3bfgsM_VqkP_JHYO3Don5x0lU_b2WeZIHoQzlNEQk0PFekXjGrBm5CqqekWnRYusq3rpCBRQhyphenhyphen8s4_RFAGvdJfYQ22mMqzHFvEp7b9IlsBwBVjgop39RdANaJrjmF4pgRTzmjFqsbl6ymxOsJdVQ_hkHVxkEPg/w123-h200/Doomsday%20Book.jpg" width="123" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">a. <b>Doomsday Book</b> by <b>Connie Willis</b> (Oxford Time Travel #1 / 1992) This was a carry-over from 2023. Most enjoyable book. (4.5 stars). In my top 3 for January.</span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq4C9_iJv_2hhb2hELIRAX-3V7yGMfGTs5NAOqB0HdUEaYWPw6ABVp_VDIRN9ODkTRbcI6zU-nQ2OsoX8yn1pngGqe69FY302-qc4RmZTgdV9Cc25_8RkoDRzYjuRFdm2QUu7oUW1HNdYQ8b4oeHkvPYUSW2M-YYjPpvqoUlGTjur2VIuW-NPs-sNHK_w/s358/Murder%20&%201st%20Lady.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="228" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq4C9_iJv_2hhb2hELIRAX-3V7yGMfGTs5NAOqB0HdUEaYWPw6ABVp_VDIRN9ODkTRbcI6zU-nQ2OsoX8yn1pngGqe69FY302-qc4RmZTgdV9Cc25_8RkoDRzYjuRFdm2QUu7oUW1HNdYQ8b4oeHkvPYUSW2M-YYjPpvqoUlGTjur2VIuW-NPs-sNHK_w/w127-h200/Murder%20&%201st%20Lady.jpg" width="127" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">b. <b>Murder and the First Lady</b> by <b>Elliot Roosevelt </b>(Eleanor Roosevelt #1 / 1984). The first book in a mystery series by the son of FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt, featuring the First Lady. (4.0 stars)</span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrBiNjqa8nlE-4GwOVuNoE91GEn0MidzZEAaVC9UEqZv54EIr6CHe0HxNNqWSs5LTE3bKoHVEjBUKhI2M3S8XQ3pgYExX0sNl12ACbe27HvGGmEm5iBtLfy2LaWk1b5bAlcmq5tsGgLgsO8KcLWj1Yeyp7W8zuon3eb3CnXo4fzL4Di1ZSVppHOfCqvbE/s470/Dekok%20and%20Geese%20of%20Death.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrBiNjqa8nlE-4GwOVuNoE91GEn0MidzZEAaVC9UEqZv54EIr6CHe0HxNNqWSs5LTE3bKoHVEjBUKhI2M3S8XQ3pgYExX0sNl12ACbe27HvGGmEm5iBtLfy2LaWk1b5bAlcmq5tsGgLgsO8KcLWj1Yeyp7W8zuon3eb3CnXo4fzL4Di1ZSVppHOfCqvbE/w136-h200/Dekok%20and%20Geese%20of%20Death.jpg" width="136" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">c. <b>Dekok and the Geese of Death</b> by <b>A.C. Baantjer</b> (Inspector Dekok #20 / 2004). I'll provide the review of this book since I just finished it on the 31st. It's a mystery series set in Amsterdam. Not my favorite but an easy, usually interesting read.</span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"</span></span><span style="color: #1e1915;">DeKok and the Geese of Death is the 20th book in the Inspector Dekok (as he says every time, 'with a K-O-K') by Dutch mystery writer A.C. Baantjer. I've read 3 of the books, well, 4 now, and while it's not my favorite mystery series, they are generally enjoyable, easy reads.</span></p><p><span style="color: #1e1915;">Inspector Dekok and his partner Vledder have finally caught suspected murderer Igor Stablinsky. As Dekok interrogates him, he is distracted by his partner and Stablinsky makes a run for it and escapes from the police station.</span></p><p><span style="color: #1e1915;">Dekok and Vledder want to immediately go after Igor but are placed on another case, one outside their jurisdiction. Isolde Bildijk, a crippled but wealthy woman, is in fear for her life, and has refused the help of the local police, instead demanding that Dekok, based on his reputation, be the one to help her. They arrive at an estate patrolled by a flock of geese. These geese will later be killed.</span></p><p><span style="color: #1e1915;">Truculent, Dekok and Vledder would rather be trying to find Igor but are distracted by Isolde and later on by her family who come down to support her. </span></p><p><span style="color: #1e1915;">There will be other murders and Dekok will try to tie them to Igor, all the while stumbling somewhat in his investigation of the Bildijk family and the threat to it. The story is a somewhat wandering tale and Dekok fits the mold of the grumpy, smart inspector who has friction with his bosses but seems to things done. </span></p><p><span style="color: #1e1915;">Ultimately, the case comes together for the two detectives. The resolution is satisfactory. There are interesting secondary characters and you do get some nice pictures of Amsterdam and its life. Not a perfect mystery but still entertaining. (3.0 stars)"</span></p><p><span style="color: #1e1915;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #1e1915;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU8pgVa3xYoREsuhQSi4ww3hZ8fBsXG6mlX4Wm4YvZtwzJsXRCgd51OyEZxYXusntzHysd_H_84ICNwFRsVZzQ_U-EEByEZjIsOLod7ZyMh8u1pGhy76cd9td_AC5hkn7owSF2tu4l2Sf0epVO7-S0RSshWsQHWBDSTzoPjB6X8lXWefdlgAovR6NCBFc/s2560/Lore%20Vol%205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1991" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU8pgVa3xYoREsuhQSi4ww3hZ8fBsXG6mlX4Wm4YvZtwzJsXRCgd51OyEZxYXusntzHysd_H_84ICNwFRsVZzQ_U-EEByEZjIsOLod7ZyMh8u1pGhy76cd9td_AC5hkn7owSF2tu4l2Sf0epVO7-S0RSshWsQHWBDSTzoPjB6X8lXWefdlgAovR6NCBFc/w156-h200/Lore%20Vol%205.jpg" width="156" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #1e1915;">d. <b>Lore Olympus Volume 5</b> by <b>Rachel Smythe</b> (2023). It's February, romance month so this is one of my selections.</span><p></p><p><span style="color: #1e1915;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Witness what the gods do after dark in the fifth volume of a stylish and contemporary reimagining of one of the best-known stories in Greek mythology, featuring exclusive behind-the-scenes content from creator Rachel Smythe.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915;">"You want to know about </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">The Bringer of Death</span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915;">."</i><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">It is Persephone's birthday, and she receives the ultimate gift: Hades confesses his desire for her, leading to their first kiss. But that doesn't necessarily make things easier for the goddess of spring, who is still in over her head in gossip-driven Olympus. Persephone feels intense guilt over the official breakup between Hades and Minthe, she is struggling to find her footing in her fast-paced job, and-worst of all-the shades of her past are slowly coming to light.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">After an unexpected encounter with Apollo, Persephone flees into the depths of the Underworld. Concerned for her safety and determined to find her, Hades must team up with Artemis, Eros, and Hera, but they're working against a ticking clock. Zeus knows about the bloody secret in Persephone's past, and now the furious king of the gods will stop at nothing to bring her to justice."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxB35h6rrdgXHi2P90rw6pBxj619N5GXwU9PhKrc1XeqgZ3Okm0csJDqq3B0Yqe4lm8CIkMDvdYXRrk_jmM6i9VXhAbLrujkdcm6ye-4v0OJSPJp-fJFlMTr84BS3V-AMsiueTqhTCce15IxWJIONa-bnK0I9EFGji7g7kYLHXzetlZPACmtop6S5c8-g/s500/Look%20to%20Lady.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="326" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxB35h6rrdgXHi2P90rw6pBxj619N5GXwU9PhKrc1XeqgZ3Okm0csJDqq3B0Yqe4lm8CIkMDvdYXRrk_jmM6i9VXhAbLrujkdcm6ye-4v0OJSPJp-fJFlMTr84BS3V-AMsiueTqhTCce15IxWJIONa-bnK0I9EFGji7g7kYLHXzetlZPACmtop6S5c8-g/w131-h200/Look%20to%20Lady.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>e. <b>Next in Line - Look to the Lady </b>by <b>Margery Allingham</b> (Albert Campion #3 / 1931) It's been a long time since I checked out this series. I'm looking forward to it.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;">Finding himself the victim of a botched kidnapping attempt, Val Gyrth suspects that he might be in a spot of trouble. Unexpected news to him – but not to the mysterious </span><span style="color: #1e1915;">Mr.</span><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"> Campion, who reveals that the ancient Chalice entrusted to Val’s family is being targeted by a ruthless ring of thieves.</span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Fleeing London for the supposed safety of Suffolk, Val and Campion come face to face with events of a perilous and puzzling nature – Campion might be accustomed to outwitting criminal minds, but can he foil supernatural forces?"</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;">3. <b>Non - Series Challenge (Any genre)</b>.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;">I'm still working on the book I started the month with. It's ok so far which is a bit disappointing because I really enjoyed the first book I read by the author.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyRxnqQSpD9lNOemoJp2HQgJJeXc1hOZjmtMnTL3141SUqTHGs8Hx4Ttcaqt3lCdCmgsI69s07OD-ZCGdS_lNIkTdIIY4Gx4Q9_FPClYC6DdJPuVxjpKJAfKlbpwLoUCYPAbox4af0BfpmM2HCHhJFUbKbmYogyBFTdw6Pvps3v5kWQB2jJpo0J8vtbmg/s4128/Fall%20of%20Sparrow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4128" data-original-width="2322" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyRxnqQSpD9lNOemoJp2HQgJJeXc1hOZjmtMnTL3141SUqTHGs8Hx4Ttcaqt3lCdCmgsI69s07OD-ZCGdS_lNIkTdIIY4Gx4Q9_FPClYC6DdJPuVxjpKJAfKlbpwLoUCYPAbox4af0BfpmM2HCHhJFUbKbmYogyBFTdw6Pvps3v5kWQB2jJpo0J8vtbmg/w113-h200/Fall%20of%20Sparrow.jpg" width="113" /></a></div>a. <b>Currently Reading</b> - <b>The Fall of the Sparrow by Nigel Balchin</b> (1955). I enjoyed The Small Back Room very much.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;">"What made Jason Pellew, a sensitive man whose unconscious charm excused many failings, turn to a career of sordid crime?</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;">Son of a peppery Colonel who died in a lunatic asylum. Sensuously dominated by elder boys at public school. An amiable eccentric at University. A breaker - up of Fascist meetings. Volunteer in the Spanish Civil War. Lover of a Jewish girl tortured by the Gestapo. Recklessly gallant combat officer. Brilliant cloak and dagger boy. Married to a nymphomaniac.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;">Where and when did this cherub with the shy smile take the wrong road?"<br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinyEpldBcIsl8GudzClc_fwNDOTtRInDQ4_YnJttWjfG_yN8lXKAeXLJoJXtuVYrsqbjHgj9f5bmn4NR6W2f8zCgYOrydWHQ2EVFzbjEjYF7gmOq1hNT7iSRqoox_8uqZcl6cGTeR0lmolXw9GYRJqaGML5CS-SoE8a6Pc3ClPkHRjSIYwAGjxABYCdHw/s1500/Liz%20Cheney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="969" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinyEpldBcIsl8GudzClc_fwNDOTtRInDQ4_YnJttWjfG_yN8lXKAeXLJoJXtuVYrsqbjHgj9f5bmn4NR6W2f8zCgYOrydWHQ2EVFzbjEjYF7gmOq1hNT7iSRqoox_8uqZcl6cGTeR0lmolXw9GYRJqaGML5CS-SoE8a6Pc3ClPkHRjSIYwAGjxABYCdHw/w129-h200/Liz%20Cheney.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>b. <b>Next in line</b>. <b>Oath and Honor: A Memoir of Warning</b> by<b> Liz Cheney </b>(2023). I want to read this sooner than later.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><span style="background-color: white;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A gripping first-hand account from inside the halls of Congress as Donald Trump and his enablers betrayed the American people and the Constitution--leading to the violent attack on our Capitol on January 6th, 2021—by the House Republican leader who dared to stand up to it.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">In the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump and many around him, including certain other elected Republican officials, intentionally breached their oath to the they ignored the rulings of dozens of courts, plotted to overturn a lawful election, and provoked a violent attack on our Capitol. Liz Cheney, one of the few Republican officials to take a stand against these efforts, witnessed the attack first-hand, and then helped lead the Congressional Select Committee investigation into how it happened. In Oath and Honor , she tells the story of this perilous moment in our history, those who helped Trump spread the stolen election lie, those whose actions preserved our constitutional framework, and the risks we still face."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">4. <b>The Tome Challenge - Books over 500 pages long.</b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">I completed one book in this challenge in January.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUdJE4Pnu_S0jxhH2VGWv2nC7nAsYsg0bpYzzqv905mJ6LsGNXXPVScKvc2_c6IIP61HfxVpduCLgW8l2WmQgv8gH43tAeEXDP1ELOO66tmPGX3Z4s2kyJOYjPAoeLYxaDsBTxs8LDax-poBkDc9x_8FBR2zcm8X78ixVZ919knZk1lX1YZ4zd7FN8EKs/s400/Eve.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUdJE4Pnu_S0jxhH2VGWv2nC7nAsYsg0bpYzzqv905mJ6LsGNXXPVScKvc2_c6IIP61HfxVpduCLgW8l2WmQgv8gH43tAeEXDP1ELOO66tmPGX3Z4s2kyJOYjPAoeLYxaDsBTxs8LDax-poBkDc9x_8FBR2zcm8X78ixVZ919knZk1lX1YZ4zd7FN8EKs/w133-h200/Eve.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>a. <b>Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years Human Evolution</b> by <b>Cat Bohannon</b> (2023). I picked this book by chance. Enjoyed it immensely. Read it. (4.0 stars)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVBs60qIYnIe-ENrVDqYHhsbYq9ENyTL2JyIExf8-IUTiTlyVgMkbSmknxjrWM95InrIUf8poUS0f1ILps51vh1HMHZpCOyGUnPLyC0MXwPGl8S-hU-CRoMxEWwNNvPWrmxwvrSSo1hKhqjFbYo-gS5-UHFn2IUNEof9VZ3BYQe5cBa5GISffFrXwdulk/s475/White%20Road.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="295" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVBs60qIYnIe-ENrVDqYHhsbYq9ENyTL2JyIExf8-IUTiTlyVgMkbSmknxjrWM95InrIUf8poUS0f1ILps51vh1HMHZpCOyGUnPLyC0MXwPGl8S-hU-CRoMxEWwNNvPWrmxwvrSSo1hKhqjFbYo-gS5-UHFn2IUNEof9VZ3BYQe5cBa5GISffFrXwdulk/w124-h200/White%20Road.jpg" width="124" /></a></div>b. <b>Currently Reading</b> - <b>The White Road</b> by <b>John Connolly</b> (Charlie Parker #4 / 2003). I'm reading this out of sequence. Enjoying it very much so far. It moves along very nicely.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">John Connolly thrilled readers with his bestselling novels, "Every Dead Thing, Dark Hollow," and "The Killing Kind." Now he delivers spellbinding suspense as Charlie Parker races to unravel a brutal crime committed in the Deep South. After years of suffering unfathomable pain and guilt over the murders of his wife and daughter, private detective Charlie Parker has finally found some measure of peace. As he and his lover, Rachel, are awaiting the birth of their first child and settling into an old farmhouse in rural Maine, Parker has found the kind of solace often lost to those who have been touched by true evil.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">But darkness soon descends when Parker gets a call from Elliot Norton, an old friend from his days as a detective with the NYPD. Now practicing law in Charleston, South Carolina, Elliot is defending a young black man accused of raping and killing his white girlfriend, the daughter of a powerful Southern millionaire. Reluctantly, Parker agrees to help Elliot and by doing so ventures into a living nightmare, a bloody dreamscape haunted by the specter of a hooded woman and a black car waiting for a passenger who never arrives. Beginning as an investigation into a young woman's death, it is a fast-moving descent into an abyss where forces conspire to destroy all that Parker holds dear."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi99C7xJpWIvIx5YGJm-WTHC1Vn_NQ1bVMGZihxQEd4e7_T96yE5GhYzkVXQNAWRnvWDYAKGVZScY225LZzYlRi13vxmZzU0ccWA1E6fDCDEVLVVksZqUBY4BPDqUEEgOkGokEIHoinojjT0j-4XHhyacUsOQ8eMyquiPP4k7LtdW596EYINMx4TjwbSmc/s400/Ministry%20of%20Future.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi99C7xJpWIvIx5YGJm-WTHC1Vn_NQ1bVMGZihxQEd4e7_T96yE5GhYzkVXQNAWRnvWDYAKGVZScY225LZzYlRi13vxmZzU0ccWA1E6fDCDEVLVVksZqUBY4BPDqUEEgOkGokEIHoinojjT0j-4XHhyacUsOQ8eMyquiPP4k7LtdW596EYINMx4TjwbSmc/w133-h200/Ministry%20of%20Future.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>c. <b>Next in Line</b> - <b>The Ministry of the Future</b> by <b>Kim Stanley Robinson</b> (2020). A new author I've wanted to try for awhile.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Ministry for the Future is a masterpiece of the imagination, using fictional eyewitness accounts to tell the story of how climate change will affect us all. Its setting is not a desolate, post-apocalyptic world, but a future that is almost upon us. Chosen by Barack Obama as one of his favorite books of the year, this extraordinary novel from visionary science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson will change the way you think about the climate crisis."</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;">5. </span><b><span style="color: #1e1915;">Monthly</span><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"> Focus - Specific Authors</span></b></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">a. <b>January Focus - Agatha Christie</b>.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I read 3 books by Christie, a Hercule Poirot, a Miss Marple and a Tommy and Tuppence. All very enjoyable.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZNFcQM_alkqMCErHS4yYMnlZr-rOm0epWwzLZfD2iwhiJNwhU5yk7DJr-e6qXFhbaQwEc-ujbc2qFd0cbyhsxXkB5eGT0tE0AACJATNHUvln61wvWNDOmoQ4ueBIpA5rMt5KLJkN_IpZ4gmbQbCcHuqZSBTjTFtAelRru2AN5o4YU4lAwVHhuxD7xyxE/s475/pricking%20thumbs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="290" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZNFcQM_alkqMCErHS4yYMnlZr-rOm0epWwzLZfD2iwhiJNwhU5yk7DJr-e6qXFhbaQwEc-ujbc2qFd0cbyhsxXkB5eGT0tE0AACJATNHUvln61wvWNDOmoQ4ueBIpA5rMt5KLJkN_IpZ4gmbQbCcHuqZSBTjTFtAelRru2AN5o4YU4lAwVHhuxD7xyxE/w122-h200/pricking%20thumbs.jpg" width="122" /></a></div>By the Pricking of My Thumbs</b> (Tommy & Tuppence #4 / 1968). Tuppence was the main star of this book. (4.0 stars)</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfglChGqQPkQXa4Don1niyfovWQ4hm_TKdjqk2GqNZqU5bxeJYkCVQ9-PkZadCuUqfx3SqZ_Bpt8BAgQbA4_qzBOdDwfiVfHD-il-OpIIrjUqA4iJDPRb4-dXHfEc1SD8JSnJxEnYkK5AKKSeMaXc-Yoyz0bQJhxqdlr4Gr0dhura4hcSrqa97gHMPrl4/s187/Big%20Four.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="187" data-original-width="114" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfglChGqQPkQXa4Don1niyfovWQ4hm_TKdjqk2GqNZqU5bxeJYkCVQ9-PkZadCuUqfx3SqZ_Bpt8BAgQbA4_qzBOdDwfiVfHD-il-OpIIrjUqA4iJDPRb4-dXHfEc1SD8JSnJxEnYkK5AKKSeMaXc-Yoyz0bQJhxqdlr4Gr0dhura4hcSrqa97gHMPrl4/w122-h200/Big%20Four.jpg" width="122" /></a></div>The Big Four </b>(Hercule Poirot #5 / 1927). Of the 3 books I read in January, I enjoyed this the least. But it was still enjoyable. (3.0 stars)</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAvrBxL4_KXZsN3GE6AC0QkGOgXD49y9aRx8zOOsD9pQtg6-OY1DNyXxwRoaR-TxNZjwxwaMdZvvleZqBItq4HbBtDSralpw0IeYrby_8-sLZn7ioNwbBdOtsWGeo897tu_z3_MINtHjYh1kP-usVv17XMO2lgXUn9sfWcW-ZJ7kjAXjbsLGuptcRYAMw/s475/Do%20it%20With%20Mirrors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="316" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAvrBxL4_KXZsN3GE6AC0QkGOgXD49y9aRx8zOOsD9pQtg6-OY1DNyXxwRoaR-TxNZjwxwaMdZvvleZqBItq4HbBtDSralpw0IeYrby_8-sLZn7ioNwbBdOtsWGeo897tu_z3_MINtHjYh1kP-usVv17XMO2lgXUn9sfWcW-ZJ7kjAXjbsLGuptcRYAMw/w133-h200/Do%20it%20With%20Mirrors.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>They Do it With Mirrors</b> (Miss Marple #6 / 1952). I have yet to be disappointed by a Miss Marple. It may have to do with how much Jo and I enjoy watching the Marple mysteries on TV, but she's just a wonderful character. (4.0 stars)</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div>b. <b>February Focus - Adam Hall</b>. Hall is author of the Quiller spy thrillers. He also wrote under other names; Elleston Trevor for one. I previously enjoyed The Flight of the Phoenix which he wrote as Trevor. I've read a couple of the Quiller books thus far and I'll focus on that series in February.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1vOGjZj5ehyffgzCVlA-POGEpUsFehIBXIf6W3eGCW9IwXsl3Ft1D3gu5DJZRFilPTbclTztnKkb3Ahq6PcS91gf1bFLor1z1A-xq04-U0ZdaN6_brryTnM1Uv4iQ7nVlPaaoeiDl05McLXjwQ_6h8urHqDSmaazZuLmFQyiHSvBSAMeX5EdD3YaLJv0/s475/9th%20directive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="284" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1vOGjZj5ehyffgzCVlA-POGEpUsFehIBXIf6W3eGCW9IwXsl3Ft1D3gu5DJZRFilPTbclTztnKkb3Ahq6PcS91gf1bFLor1z1A-xq04-U0ZdaN6_brryTnM1Uv4iQ7nVlPaaoeiDl05McLXjwQ_6h8urHqDSmaazZuLmFQyiHSvBSAMeX5EdD3YaLJv0/w119-h200/9th%20directive.jpg" width="119" /></a></div>Currently Reading</b> - <b>The 9th Directive</b> (or Quiller in Bangkok) (Quiller #2 / 1966). </div><div><br /></div><div>"<span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The setting is Thailand. A very important representative of the Queen is scheduled to visit Bangkok on a good-will tour. A threat has been made against his life, and somewhere amidst the golden spires awaits a deadly assassin.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The top-secret British espionage bureau feels ordinary security precautions are not sufficient, so they call in agent Quiller. He's a cynical loner, but the only man capable of tracking down the would-be killer. The tale is complex, set at a breathless pace!"</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcSB6_phAOhA1FF_KwdtIEqCNnBvzvfGF2pui2LIpFBdeFfaAvEN16K0ibw_RgSJAvaRApkACuNEB_hSkWA7Da1xr3Y2_SCw9X0VBSs5Pl205DOyhRcseWZbiuzlPiubYfCtUDJLUNd0Z-l-iXSdpneOyfj8o_apw1eNx-EiGdMKO9nO-7BFDz3eGciVQ/s475/Striker%20Portfolio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="285" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcSB6_phAOhA1FF_KwdtIEqCNnBvzvfGF2pui2LIpFBdeFfaAvEN16K0ibw_RgSJAvaRApkACuNEB_hSkWA7Da1xr3Y2_SCw9X0VBSs5Pl205DOyhRcseWZbiuzlPiubYfCtUDJLUNd0Z-l-iXSdpneOyfj8o_apw1eNx-EiGdMKO9nO-7BFDz3eGciVQ/w120-h200/Striker%20Portfolio.jpg" width="120" /></a></b></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Next in Line - The Striker Portfolio</b> (Quiller #3 / 1968).</span><p></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The latest British super-fighter has killed thirty-six pilots in high-impact crashes, and Quiller is determined to solve the mystery."</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There you go. See any books that tweak your interest? </span></p>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-21754624442638402442024-01-27T13:16:00.000-08:002024-01-27T13:16:43.785-08:00For Janice - Books Part 15<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJyRkN3fETZ9SFjsDSR6S8A0aikcpCEvdVu2Zu4VyqZ7y3tDdCWbGHGVcw5gYoPSKZfBPBm2hUXA1s1c-zDT3cjlwNIlut6Y80pjf5d_mCCJQ8PvfY7skuqo1dxRD6piT3eqbksv8pR-wqURCyRBzH9xUZB5NKGcddrp3WIv7niRRAe4VI5SfoBmTKiaU/s3648/Clyde%2016%20Jan.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJyRkN3fETZ9SFjsDSR6S8A0aikcpCEvdVu2Zu4VyqZ7y3tDdCWbGHGVcw5gYoPSKZfBPBm2hUXA1s1c-zDT3cjlwNIlut6Y80pjf5d_mCCJQ8PvfY7skuqo1dxRD6piT3eqbksv8pR-wqURCyRBzH9xUZB5NKGcddrp3WIv7niRRAe4VI5SfoBmTKiaU/s320/Clyde%2016%20Jan.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>That's pretty personal you know, old man!</b></td></tr></tbody></table>It's been a rainy sort of week. Low cloud, mizzy, that sort of thing. But the snow we had is pretty well all gone. Nothing exciting really to mention. Bonnie had a check up yesterday; heart and lungs good, weight good. The doc wants to put her on a glucose monitor again as her reading was a bit high. I mentioned that Clyde has been licking a fair bit (don't tell him I said this because he'll probably be embarrassed.) So the vet asked me to get a sample of his pee so they could check if he might have an infection. What a little bugger. I'm trying get him to pee in a little container this morning as we went for our walk. Every time he cocked his leg, I'd place it under him and he'd stop... Grrrr! Long story short (yes, I know, too late), I managed finally to get a sample and dropped it at the vet and celebrated with a quick trip to Big Foot Donuts to get Jo and I a treat.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBpD3uCL_UpKMxRIqwhLUVfy5bhK1eeYrmh2kSa-yYmnpfKo_b__Y2FjKxT0bsyu0isglGH0YkaZd2bwc-HnEMe9rmVNdccwaPCfVAWIMqELnVQhhkvmn9xakMzIUU-ghrxniAW6TnHIqCmCo8bhV67oG8pkEAhny5AAoPUY-dkTutO5aGSpSW0uzIHR8/s3648/2009_0426newphotos0039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBpD3uCL_UpKMxRIqwhLUVfy5bhK1eeYrmh2kSa-yYmnpfKo_b__Y2FjKxT0bsyu0isglGH0YkaZd2bwc-HnEMe9rmVNdccwaPCfVAWIMqELnVQhhkvmn9xakMzIUU-ghrxniAW6TnHIqCmCo8bhV67oG8pkEAhny5AAoPUY-dkTutO5aGSpSW0uzIHR8/s320/2009_0426newphotos0039.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Study bookshelves (see the doors...)</b></td></tr></tbody></table>Anyway, back to looking at our book shelve and the books therein. Into my final room now but it might take a few posts as the den has quite a few shelves and books behind doors. </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixtPqMjS3HFLGxZ-B8kpbL9uHc67rgt-XrIybR42hwduav1m-96ntRgC0tjWwtvKnqjz8Pu8SRsJnLXXpwMncZ_UUOWk3tn8WwCbOgLkMkFZqS6s5MBAM48rL4qPE_zWPcsIa84PHyQFpvavWe01Xw96ixJqsOroV34y9yPL04ZCIPT6l2V0FpWXpbQ1M/s2551/Cadfael%201a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2346" data-original-width="2551" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixtPqMjS3HFLGxZ-B8kpbL9uHc67rgt-XrIybR42hwduav1m-96ntRgC0tjWwtvKnqjz8Pu8SRsJnLXXpwMncZ_UUOWk3tn8WwCbOgLkMkFZqS6s5MBAM48rL4qPE_zWPcsIa84PHyQFpvavWe01Xw96ixJqsOroV34y9yPL04ZCIPT6l2V0FpWXpbQ1M/s320/Cadfael%201a.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Floating shelves</b></td></tr></tbody></table>But I'll start with the collection at the opposite room first. Jo put up the floating shelves to store our cd's, as you can see. But she also said I could have the top shelf for some books.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzGguKwncZ5rqHyiF1bN6SJZ_aVYG_4QGN0MU4ijDMuw3ATfbyDMXa4nPoG3fk9wOzpHvi1-EL1GSffO6IUo2qJP8t86e__lY03rW9Fk5rBIkeFYTrPHf_di7p1yXGhU6yRZe7mqC3PwlmGL3UffcsrvtJ-rVFJVl_oP2x__yg1iOp-IDu1Ldp4ymhNlc/s3017/Cadfael%201b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1616" data-original-width="3017" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzGguKwncZ5rqHyiF1bN6SJZ_aVYG_4QGN0MU4ijDMuw3ATfbyDMXa4nPoG3fk9wOzpHvi1-EL1GSffO6IUo2qJP8t86e__lY03rW9Fk5rBIkeFYTrPHf_di7p1yXGhU6yRZe7mqC3PwlmGL3UffcsrvtJ-rVFJVl_oP2x__yg1iOp-IDu1Ldp4ymhNlc/s320/Cadfael%201b.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Cadfael by Ellis Peters</b></td></tr></tbody></table>1. <b>Top Shelf</b>. Ellis Peters wrote the Cadfael books, a historical mystery series featuring an English monk, Cadfael. Jo and I had enjoyed the TV series featuring Derek Jacobi as the crime - solving monk. There are 21 books in the series and I've enjoyed 16 thus far. It's always fun to pull one down to read.</p><p>The other side of the room consists of three sets of shelves we bought from Home Depot many years ago. The two shelves we have in the Family room come from the same set. As you can see from the first photo, they fit into the space pretty snugly. Today I'll start on the left side (as you look at the shelves) and work down from the top. I'll save the bottom rows for my last posts as they are pretty extensive.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr9mk5kiPpc1gr81t16KoG-frL65atOJXguY0X1O_qKfV3-Hnhjm83XzcpbyQwo7mn8c_wwYsxZ-t0jCkjsjplaqG3pk31TE8armCbVUxSC_VdZSBxH3s9i9FMvtwWOG-InnY1HkdXoiIGeNP0ah6RbJs05tEvHrC47ekCvC9897786mt3AQKrEWpgHeM/s3078/Left%20top%201a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2117" data-original-width="3078" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr9mk5kiPpc1gr81t16KoG-frL65atOJXguY0X1O_qKfV3-Hnhjm83XzcpbyQwo7mn8c_wwYsxZ-t0jCkjsjplaqG3pk31TE8armCbVUxSC_VdZSBxH3s9i9FMvtwWOG-InnY1HkdXoiIGeNP0ah6RbJs05tEvHrC47ekCvC9897786mt3AQKrEWpgHeM/s320/Left%20top%201a.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Sci Fi & Fantasy</b></td></tr></tbody></table>1. <b>Top left (left side)</b>. This is one of my Sci Fi corners. Working from the left are some of the Fu Manchu books by Sax Rohmer. In a previous post, when I was showing off the lounge, there were the remainder of this collection, just different editions. I bought these books at Russell Books in Victoria, a special printing. The next four are Phillip K. Dick stories. I've read quite a few of his books. He's always unique. Next is a Fantasy from Patrick Rothfuss. I've read the first book in this series and thought it was great. I've read one Stanislaw Lem story, Return from the Stars. I'm not sure whether I like him or not but I'll give Eden a shot. The remaining authors are all new for me and were published in this Masterworks collection. I'm looking forward to trying them. There are Joanna Russ (one of my newest additions), M.J. Engh, Nicola Griffith, Ward Moore, William Tenn & Walter Tevis. Check them out and let me know if you like them. (Ed Note. I readily admit that I buy some of these books because I like the covers.)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNdAgzB_NVOaR9B3pPakdDdXQfjWSSrFGMy4i15XFg3BapoVwT6A6R5ZnnkT1YezGJzBICH-KaXA7Taxe0dvPKCEptGNJwIC_CMTGdZREnJhGfj3RX1B8IARcxH2MvvMA5UW35G0owWf6ARhyNPGpL20kjMVN4eNeXTJi3hgWsDoScvve-b3j9jCIKqp4/s2736/Left%20top%201b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="2024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNdAgzB_NVOaR9B3pPakdDdXQfjWSSrFGMy4i15XFg3BapoVwT6A6R5ZnnkT1YezGJzBICH-KaXA7Taxe0dvPKCEptGNJwIC_CMTGdZREnJhGfj3RX1B8IARcxH2MvvMA5UW35G0owWf6ARhyNPGpL20kjMVN4eNeXTJi3hgWsDoScvve-b3j9jCIKqp4/s320/Left%20top%201b.JPG" width="237" /></a></div>2. <b>Top left (right side)</b>. Just 3 books squeezed into this slot. I've read The Best of Saki, a short story writer (HH Munro is his name) who influenced people like P.G. Wodehouse. I bought the book in Kingston when Jo and I went there to visit Jenn one summer. He's got a strange sense of humor. China Mieville is one of a modern group of Sci Fi authors who I'm really enjoying exploring. And The Testaments is Margaret Atwood's sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, a book I've read two or three times.<p></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0KXyVAn7_b51UYF_tdIZ1tFfY6e-yluSCu6PRq_MAvF60OkuZskVZYsiVdmsHC2inBgjVbIk9BrWBjRLzMRBtuuhkxneTvY1vXmdVScaP-ezc-nZU6mn0Ui2zjOu_foxN3x2PgBZhL9oD5ssNz5TfYUyn6uyt1_TtlQUkM3AxHZIjEsVXioqo7ofuau4/s3025/Left%202nd%20top.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2618" data-original-width="3025" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0KXyVAn7_b51UYF_tdIZ1tFfY6e-yluSCu6PRq_MAvF60OkuZskVZYsiVdmsHC2inBgjVbIk9BrWBjRLzMRBtuuhkxneTvY1vXmdVScaP-ezc-nZU6mn0Ui2zjOu_foxN3x2PgBZhL9oD5ssNz5TfYUyn6uyt1_TtlQUkM3AxHZIjEsVXioqo7ofuau4/s320/Left%202nd%20top.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Book covers again</b></td></tr></tbody></table>3. <b>Left side (2nd shelf)</b>. Iain M. Banks is another of the more modern authors of Sci Fi that I enjoy. His Culture series is fascinating. He also wrote fiction / mysteries. I think I prefer his Sci Fi, although you might like to check out The Wasp Factory. It's kind of strange; in the same vein as Lord of the Flies I think. Another Philip K. Dick, this time a collection of short stories, including The Minority Report (made into a movie). The remaining books are graphic novels. Alan Moore's V for Vendetta, one of Moore's selections I've not yet read and then another of my favorite graphic novel series, Tank Girl by Alan Martin. It's always enjoyable and I read somewhere that it's being made into another movie.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ2oeZeER9pwJvDTKB6szjvNNgROZDzYb6S9yIXW-ZI4nbxMXTJwG7sF6axXjlw-3R6RBJvXmPdAoPdmwxYuUbg9pPT2B14rCAAy7OtbaHbcD7qUtY-IEvg9V0PnwH-b6oyEyQIIUdquDQsiGMD_uyovOaonC-4EA15q5vJqJjZ1oZMkCBhzlpMQwDNjc/s2614/Left%20middle%201a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2614" data-original-width="2171" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ2oeZeER9pwJvDTKB6szjvNNgROZDzYb6S9yIXW-ZI4nbxMXTJwG7sF6axXjlw-3R6RBJvXmPdAoPdmwxYuUbg9pPT2B14rCAAy7OtbaHbcD7qUtY-IEvg9V0PnwH-b6oyEyQIIUdquDQsiGMD_uyovOaonC-4EA15q5vJqJjZ1oZMkCBhzlpMQwDNjc/s320/Left%20middle%201a.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br />4. <b>Left side (middle shelf, left side)</b>. From left to right, a book on Germany that I received as a going away gift when I was stationed there. The Scrabble 'book' contains a scrabble game. I don't remember where Jo and I found this but it sure looks nice. The Virgin 9th Film Guide is a list of movies and then there is one book based on a Canadian TV series that my folks used to enjoy when we were stationed in Bagotville PQ, the Plouffe family. <p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvef0HdARm39CHxIVe4S8fm0WUR_vqZS7ilKMyGhywhiPHJAW1GQvF9g3h99cOywOuvYbxUqmUA4rh5RotJQ6DoGYgUozPu7XlpnNnwCA6264Zfitv_wPGspvWpzKGnfU4nEQaonLhOTrOESzAhcO_HYbTWbapHoC7Bp2Ufb4Q3KTWFxLFYPgLsF10hM/s2952/Left%20middle%201b.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="2360" data-original-width="2952" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvef0HdARm39CHxIVe4S8fm0WUR_vqZS7ilKMyGhywhiPHJAW1GQvF9g3h99cOywOuvYbxUqmUA4rh5RotJQ6DoGYgUozPu7XlpnNnwCA6264Zfitv_wPGspvWpzKGnfU4nEQaonLhOTrOESzAhcO_HYbTWbapHoC7Bp2Ufb4Q3KTWFxLFYPgLsF10hM/s320/Left%20middle%201b.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>5. <b>Left side (middle shelf, right side)</b>. As I have mentioned a few times, Jo and I often find vintage books in our travels, hence the Blackie's Standard Dictionary. the other books are shelf fillers. They add a certain texture to the shelf.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih-cwGt_stMupiX8fhX_JcjZ_22s6uPZ35iwscmzYNOpBf5vpOlS-rBBlHXuH3tp7nfF7GMIL8Ayhk_cMwNegRLzSFIXpN41yRQ2GPPbNQrbcx7RJp1wNssK6ouzQXHLBISZMm0uHOQgMPKC-ZGJdrrj786XDCroPD3CiucW5bSTyZ4DsUMIUlbdWqqnw/s3257/Left%20bottom.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1862" data-original-width="3257" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih-cwGt_stMupiX8fhX_JcjZ_22s6uPZ35iwscmzYNOpBf5vpOlS-rBBlHXuH3tp7nfF7GMIL8Ayhk_cMwNegRLzSFIXpN41yRQ2GPPbNQrbcx7RJp1wNssK6ouzQXHLBISZMm0uHOQgMPKC-ZGJdrrj786XDCroPD3CiucW5bSTyZ4DsUMIUlbdWqqnw/s320/Left%20bottom.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>6. <b>Left side (bottom shelf.</b>.. not including the two lowest shelves which will be dealt with later on). A mish mash of books here. We have a couple of Shakespeare collections. I think we found this one at a local thrift store. I don't think it was much more than $10. The next is a reference book of some sort.. LOL. Then a couple of dictionaries. I think the Webster's was one my folks had and it's been around the world a couple of times, hence the new cover. The King's dictionary was purchased in another local vintage store and is from the early 1900's. The next book is a Treasury of Use and Beauty from 1885 that I found when Jo and I were down at a Vintage shop in Nanaimo. Not sure it's there any more. I did post some excerpts from it at one <a href="https://bill-booksbooksbooks.blogspot.com/2017/12/a-new-book-and-some-other-items-of.html"><b>time</b></a>. If you scroll through my 2017 posts, you might find more excerpts... What else.... Just a variety of books. Some of the Harry Potter books that I used to buy at Superstore as they came out. A few more of Jo's movie and TV reference books. She either brought them with her or we found them locally..... We did buy some boxes of books at the Cumberland auction, just to flesh out our shelves back in the day.<p></p><p>So, for today, some more books and series for you to check out. More in my next post. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and the upcoming week. It's almost FEBRUARY!</p>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-57630210261595811762024-01-22T13:28:00.000-08:002024-01-22T13:28:58.512-08:00Another January 2024 Reading Update<p>The snow continues to melt. Our afternoon out to check out a house for sale has ended as the house was purchased on the weekend. Not sure what we'll do now. I had a brief visit to the doc this morning to check out some bumps on my face. I have had skin cancer before. She burned them all off with liquid nitrogen. That's my excitement for today. Jo is currently relaxing and the puppies are asleep with me in the Den.</p><p>I've completed two more books in January. That makes five now, on a bit slower pace than usual. I'll provide my reviews and also the synopses of the next books I've started. Then if I've received any new books, I'll provide the synopses of those as well. Onward!</p><p><b>Just Finished</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7KI71eVR3e5QJJIdCl7uXui1ToGc_JllQavO-XVg5qh42ol_oc3hYzEO3OK6RkDBNp2Ry7Msf3jakSMC-7RzVyHN-Pg6DOYTHbgtBaGkkSL-oSJ21LN-PLbPDlorihrld9CXgH6iKxCJGJHMGYpcwLedOAPZBbilfnaNEFz3ndhNU9QXF5cLsFs2ZKYE/s475/Tehanu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="316" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7KI71eVR3e5QJJIdCl7uXui1ToGc_JllQavO-XVg5qh42ol_oc3hYzEO3OK6RkDBNp2Ry7Msf3jakSMC-7RzVyHN-Pg6DOYTHbgtBaGkkSL-oSJ21LN-PLbPDlorihrld9CXgH6iKxCJGJHMGYpcwLedOAPZBbilfnaNEFz3ndhNU9QXF5cLsFs2ZKYE/w133-h200/Tehanu.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>1. <b>Tehanu</b> by <b>Ursula K. Le Guin</b> (Earthsea Cycle #4 / 1990). My 2nd Le Guin book from my 12 + 4 Challenge.<p></p><p>"Tehanu is the 4th book in the Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin and the 2nd book by Le Guin I've enjoyed this year. This story is a continuation of #2, The Tombs of Atuan and follows Tenar, who Ged had rescued from Atuan. Tenar (she does have other names in this story; as names are very important) now lives in Gont. Ged had dropped her off with his mentor, Ogion, but after living and training with him, Tenar (now Goha) moved to another part of the island, married a farmer and raised children.</p><p>Her husband passed away and her children both grew up and moved away. Tenar adopts a young girl, Therru, who had been abused and had her face burned by her 'parents'. Tenar and her friends try to save Therru and help her adjust to what had befallen her. Quite early, Tenar hears that Ogion is dying and wants Tenar to come and see him before he passes away.</p><p>This is kind of where the story begins. Tenar goes to Ogion, helps bury him (some conflict with local Wizards, especially one who really seems to resent her and another local witch, Moss. So begins a new life for Tenar as she and Therru stay at Ogion's house and build a new life there. </p><p>One more complication arrives in the form of Ged. He is brought to the island by the dragon Kalessin. In the 3rd story, The Farthest Shore, Ged goes to the dark lands, saves the King of Earthsea and in doing so, loses his powers. He arrives a broken, almost dying man and Tenar takes him in to restore him.</p><p>It's a slow build, as all of these events take place, and it's a very thoughtful story. But slowly, the story builds in tension as the Wizard in the castle of Re Albi takes action against Tenar (spells involved) and the man who abused Therru also makes an appearance. For a relatively short fantasy novel, there is so much going on, on and below the surface. Have I mentioned Therru yet? What role will she play in the final pages? Well, now you have to read it.</p><p>I've enjoyed this series so very much. I've rated each highly. This could easily have been rated 5.. I'm not sure if I have a reason why not? Maybe it was resolved too quickly, even if it was also satisfying. Quite a different story as the others have focused on Ged, while he is very peripheral to this story. Read the series. It's excellent. (4.5 stars)"</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilNJrM4yE1iD0sN27K7ZMtrnZoJZcWUmvuLVAY0nGqUoeQxyZU-5ZMP5lNtK5jc6NVwcWcQlKP8gQcg-tTnt8QibFlt2ksU1Kclui7RPsjjVziB8ffVlu72slFPy4F_8qXspf-BNST6vtNM4td036TRPcgjcDSFNd2U6IyJB2zXHGxdE4t3VvA8GAwfDg/s358/Murder%20&%201st%20Lady.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="228" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilNJrM4yE1iD0sN27K7ZMtrnZoJZcWUmvuLVAY0nGqUoeQxyZU-5ZMP5lNtK5jc6NVwcWcQlKP8gQcg-tTnt8QibFlt2ksU1Kclui7RPsjjVziB8ffVlu72slFPy4F_8qXspf-BNST6vtNM4td036TRPcgjcDSFNd2U6IyJB2zXHGxdE4t3VvA8GAwfDg/w127-h200/Murder%20&%201st%20Lady.jpg" width="127" /></a></div>2. <b>Murder and the First Lady</b> by <b>Elliot Roosevelt </b>(Eleanor Roosevelt #1 / 1984). A mystery series by FDR & Eleanor Roosevelt's son featuring the 1st Lady as crime solver. Entertaining fun. This is the 2nd book completed in my Series challenge.<p></p><p>"I'm not sure where I first heard of Murder and the First Lady by Elliott Roosevelt. I quite often decide to check out books that I see listed in the back of others that I'm reading. At any rate, when I saw this listed (wherever) I looked up Elliot Roosevelt and discovered he was the son of FDR and Eleanor and had written 20 mysteries featuring his mother. I've enjoyed historical mysteries featuring real people, a case in point Nicola Upson's series featuring mystery writer Josephine Tey. So needless to say, I decided to check out this series. At least this first book, originally published in 1984.</p><p>So Europe is on the brink of war and FDR is busy seeing how America will act should war take place. (This is a minor thread in this mystery). Eleanor Roosevelt has employed a young English girl, Pamela, as her secretary. While Eleanor is away at a play in New York, Pamela is arrested by the DC police for the murder of a New Jersey Congressman's son, Philip Garber. Garber was also employed in the WH and was found murdered by cyanide in Pamela's DC apartment. It appears that the cyanide was administered in a drink mixed by Pamela.</p><p>Eleanor gets involved in the case because she can't believe this wonderful young lady could have committed murder. Meeting surreptitiously with the Police Lt handling the case, one Lt Kennelly, she discovers that Pamela and Philip are also suspected of robbing the safe of their previous employer in England and absconding with high valued jewels from the Crittendens. As Eleanor and Kennelly begin to investigate the murder, a Scotland yard Inspector arrives from England to provide assistance with the case. So the three begin to investigate, involving visiting some of the seedier locales in DC. It seems that Philip had a gambling problem and owed money to quite a few club owners in the area.</p><p>So there you go, that's the gist of the mystery. Eleanor works to prove Pamela's innocence, all the while, supporting her husband in his work. Their conversations about the case are always interesting, their interactions and affection for each other add to the story. Added to the mix, is the FBI director, one J. Edgar Hoover, at first trying to help out the New Jersey congressman but also beginning to be won over by Eleanor's enthusiasm and genuine concern for the well-being of Pamela.</p><p>It's an entertaining, light bit of mystery fun, well-written and with a satisfying conclusion. I tweaked to the twist at the end, but not until the very end. The historical references, the introduction of historical people of the period add to the entertainment of the story. I've got #2, The Hyde Park Murder, on order. (4.0 stars)"</p><p><b>Currently Reading</b></p><p>(The next books in my 12 + 4 Challenge and my Series Challenge)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqG1b0CeN-kgAtq7SSNPu-L9D0NSNis24G0pMbbv7CRIZfy0V7xhbKLU13LCsTKhU6csXLK6T8XAwS6VDsXxB3AgN-m0RsKAGiKPMUbZTSNWcjGbqMXdEePG4ukhXIADf8uWvJeh9HrA3ro-D4Q49ez4-HqxDQKoXT5FPunUxvxnHAXOZCDKTNFxLtbJ4/s356/Beginning%20Place.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="216" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqG1b0CeN-kgAtq7SSNPu-L9D0NSNis24G0pMbbv7CRIZfy0V7xhbKLU13LCsTKhU6csXLK6T8XAwS6VDsXxB3AgN-m0RsKAGiKPMUbZTSNWcjGbqMXdEePG4ukhXIADf8uWvJeh9HrA3ro-D4Q49ez4-HqxDQKoXT5FPunUxvxnHAXOZCDKTNFxLtbJ4/w121-h200/Beginning%20Place.jpg" width="121" /></a></div>1. <b>The Beginning Place</b> by <b>Ursula K. Le Guin</b> (1980). One of her standalone Sci Fi stories. Has a different tone to others I've read so far.<p></p><p>"<span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A magical place across a creek provides sanctuary for two young people in flight from the banality of their daily lives, until their paradise turns into a hell on Earth that threatens to destroy them."</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOxO4iPbc_S3SZ-XxODm6ejAEQCs7w8wZQPPOIIsdCY8gQ_rxfVRIcrmjQfDNCTtI_PhG8N5wyUe3kGj0hzXYXxl1Mj8tTD918tIBq9NQuAQFXGrXIrE_XkLN-68pvMjzgtBhCAzZ0u74jzBE4ThCONhHaztqYMH28qp92aW-N-mDqR3Vjd1Hv4DuL_JY/s470/Dekok%20and%20Geese%20of%20Death.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOxO4iPbc_S3SZ-XxODm6ejAEQCs7w8wZQPPOIIsdCY8gQ_rxfVRIcrmjQfDNCTtI_PhG8N5wyUe3kGj0hzXYXxl1Mj8tTD918tIBq9NQuAQFXGrXIrE_XkLN-68pvMjzgtBhCAzZ0u74jzBE4ThCONhHaztqYMH28qp92aW-N-mDqR3Vjd1Hv4DuL_JY/w136-h200/Dekok%20and%20Geese%20of%20Death.jpg" width="136" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">2. <b>DeKok and the Geese of Death</b> by <b>A.C. Baantjer </b>(DeKok #20 / 1983). I've read one other of this series set in Amsterdam. I've had this for awhile now.</span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">In </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915;">The Geese of Death</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">, DeKok takes on Igor Stablinsky, a man accused of bludgeoning a wealthy old man and his wife. To DeKok’s unfailing eye the killing urge is visibly present in the suspect during questioning, but did he commit this particular crime?</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">All signs point to one of the few remaining estates in Holland. The answer lies within a strange family, suspicions of incest, deadly geese and a horrifying mansion. Baantjer’s perceptive style brings to light the essences of his characters, touching his audience with subtle wit and irony."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><b>New Books</b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Only one new book. I bought it the other day when Jo and I went out for lunch. She visited her shop and I looked through Books 4 Brains. Yes! I found one.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUrtqBZ1iuOImMs3mQtMh1oL8p_BiMx70-9O20TXmrxNiMTV-fkVU-7S_uMxakl4Gh0gXY5KUstXtYe9psPticVvGRkcMBxVq-DmXhKzGG5GrAEE0fQVmBBL7z_dzkd7t6fj9BiqdJIwbyW_HwozM6GkEuhmEFCdwhJJnmzsA764EFaJu8PwYtwBY01rc/s1520/Book%20of%20night.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1520" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUrtqBZ1iuOImMs3mQtMh1oL8p_BiMx70-9O20TXmrxNiMTV-fkVU-7S_uMxakl4Gh0gXY5KUstXtYe9psPticVvGRkcMBxVq-DmXhKzGG5GrAEE0fQVmBBL7z_dzkd7t6fj9BiqdJIwbyW_HwozM6GkEuhmEFCdwhJJnmzsA764EFaJu8PwYtwBY01rc/w132-h200/Book%20of%20night.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>1. <b>Book of Night</b> by <b>Holly Black </b>(Book of Night #1). I just read Black's Good Neighbors graphic novel and quite enjoyed. There is only one book in this fantasy series so far although there is one listed as TBD. I'm also going to check out her Spiderwick Chronicles to see what it's like.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Holly Black makes her adult debut with </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915;">Book of Night</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">, a modern dark fantasy of shadowy thieves and secret societies.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">In Charlie Hall’s world, shadows can be altered, for entertainment and cosmetic preferences—but also to increase power and influence. You can alter someone’s feelings—and memories—but manipulating shadows has a cost, with the potential to take hours or days from your life. Your shadow holds all the parts of you that you want to keep hidden—a second self, standing just to your left, walking behind you into lit rooms. And sometimes, it has a life of its own.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1e1915;">Charlie is a low-level con artist, working as a bartender while trying to distance herself from the powerful and dangerous underground world of shadow trading. She gets by doing odd jobs for her patrons and the naïve new money in her town at the edge of the Berkshires. But when a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie’s present life is thrown into chaos, and her future seems at best, unclear—and at worst, non-existent. Determined to survive, Charlie throws herself into a maelstrom of secrets and murder, setting her against a cast of doppelgängers, mercurial billionaires, shadow thieves, and her own sister—all desperate to control the magic of the shadows." Sound neat?</span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1e1915;">So there you go. Next update I'll continue with my ongoing thread on women authors whose work I'm enjoying. Enjoy your week!</span></span></span></div>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-58640272465754061582024-01-21T15:42:00.000-08:002024-01-21T15:42:40.002-08:00For Janice - Books Part 14<p>The snow has stopped but it's sort of rainy now. We're enjoying the finals of the Curling on TV. The Scots have won the men's championships. The ladies are about to start. Go Rachel Homan!</p><p>On that note, time to finish the hidden shelves in the Family Room. The R's to the Z's follow.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfRW36cVqhrwxA3we_G_pH4H1jjgKuczuBHJ8JFM19LpP_AEAFuA-l11S0MsmeLFodJKRFouMywnZEN7wD5lrf6reVgWDfwAKWohAe1SRlfiiTibRCveiGmruXKahLwKtL-xmBohG2kIphXpolbx__n9-3pGW6vsqv8bIh7Qq02VcaWpA5-nbbRxWmZqw/s3355/Shelf%20%234a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1949" data-original-width="3355" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfRW36cVqhrwxA3we_G_pH4H1jjgKuczuBHJ8JFM19LpP_AEAFuA-l11S0MsmeLFodJKRFouMywnZEN7wD5lrf6reVgWDfwAKWohAe1SRlfiiTibRCveiGmruXKahLwKtL-xmBohG2kIphXpolbx__n9-3pGW6vsqv8bIh7Qq02VcaWpA5-nbbRxWmZqw/s320/Shelf%20%234a.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>R's to S</b></td></tr></tbody></table>1. <b>R's to S</b>. As per usual, it's a mix of new and familiar authors and the same with genres. J.D. Robb is a new author. I've seen the books many, many times but thought, after reading some reviews that I should give her in Death series a check. I've read graphic novels by Canadian indigenous author. I enjoyed them and bought the books in the Reckoner series to get the back story of the graphic novels. Jo bought me the Michael Robotham books as she'd heard his mysteries, set in Australia, were interesting. I'm looking forward to reading the first book. I've had Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff for a little while. I've also wanted to watch the TV. So many books / TV shows, so little time. LOL. One of my favorite books & movies was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It was written by Betty Smith. I was watching Joy in the Morning on TCM one day and realized that Betty Smith also wrote that. So now I have that to try. John Scalzi wrote a Sci Fi series I've been meaning to try, The Old Man's War, and Red Shirts is one of his standalones. The First Lady of World War II is written by Shannon McKenna Schmidt and is about Eleanor Roosevelt and a trip she took to the Pacific war zone. I saw Shannon interviewed on Stephen Colbert's show and thought I'd like to try the book. I read the first Dr. Bannerman veterinarian mystery set in Winnipeg and it was entertaining. Six Ostriches is the 2nd book. I've not read John Sladen before. The Complete Roderick is a collection of stories featuring robot Roderick. And yes, it sounded interesting says the broken record. I've enjoyed Karin Slaughter for a long time. Her mysteries, set in Georgia, are gritty and interesting. Timothy Sojka sent me one of his books to review one time and I enjoyed it. Payback Jack is another of his thrillers. The Dead of False Creek is a time travel mystery set in Vancouver. How could I resist? I've yet to read Neal Shusterman although I've purchased a few of his Sci Fi books. Not sure which I'll try first. I did enjoy the first book in Amy Stewart's historical mysteries featuring the Kopp sisters. Lady Cop Makes Trouble is the 2nd book. And.... I've read one of Maggie Stiefvater's young adult fantasies, The Scorpio Races. I've since discovered some of her other books and look forward to trying them. I hope they are as interesting.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj1LO6fnRvk5i9NX5wImIN7-5sIXDZr2ZRj7InP_yo2huvVNzdn3N1vtJzYeADWCzgwjYtG37dw18g700ca_4l-idwJ_BhjNuJhvkcgF55pw_Bxdbn1GNvksEpa-5XbAxVslWatLWT24PopW6nPWTgda6yip9SVnmPXDaiiGH_A8N-VXUx-UKNvtHxdQw/s3392/Shelf%20%234b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2003" data-original-width="3392" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj1LO6fnRvk5i9NX5wImIN7-5sIXDZr2ZRj7InP_yo2huvVNzdn3N1vtJzYeADWCzgwjYtG37dw18g700ca_4l-idwJ_BhjNuJhvkcgF55pw_Bxdbn1GNvksEpa-5XbAxVslWatLWT24PopW6nPWTgda6yip9SVnmPXDaiiGH_A8N-VXUx-UKNvtHxdQw/s320/Shelf%20%234b.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>S - W</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br />2. <b>S - W</b>. Two more Maggie Stiefvater books start off this shelf of books. An Easy Thing by Paco Taibo is a noir mystery set in Mexico, yup, another new author. If I like, there are 3 more books in the series. The Voices is a horror novel by new writer F.R. Tallis that I also want to try. The next four authors are all ones I've enjoyed reading; Jodi Taylor's time travel books, Josephine Tey's Alan Grant mysteries, Victoria Thompson's Gaslight mysteries set in 1900 New York & Lesley Thomson's Detective's Daughter mysteries set in England. All worth checking out. Miriam Toews wrote Women Talking, a fascinating, disturbing novel which was also turned into a movie I'd like to see. Fight Night is her most recent book. You can probably guess what The Sisters of Auschwitz is about. I've read a few non-fiction books set in the Nazi concentration camps. Books that some people on the right should read as the espouse their hatred. (enough of a rant, I guess). I've enjoyed a few books in the Bruno, Police Chief books set in France. They are like Donna Leon's Inspector Brunetti mysteries set in Venice; great characters, yummy sounding food and interesting mysteries. Jo Walton's Farthing mystery series is set in WWII London but with a twist that it's an alternate reality where Hitler has negotiated a peace / truce and now has direct influence on England's state of affairs. I've read the middle book in this trilogy. I totally enjoyed Scott Westerfield's Leviathan young adult fantasy trilogy. It was excellent. Now to try the Risen Empire series, of two books thus far.</p><p>... and winding up.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKYWo2W0HJ5auOrvufOxQ60wR68qsq9VC4JABV64EtyGL-AkUEIK0I8VOFba6OJLQXVpApn5Qux5TVmRCotowffdVfxqB9Sq3FeTUhHj9APMGP1DAQm4_c0Kum4fmBY-_W13CthqbDZJgm27Atiw8v0AUJ95ImgSERyi7WFAuPPEqHXBJteM_sU-fgvvg/s2612/Shelf%20%234c.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2093" data-original-width="2612" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKYWo2W0HJ5auOrvufOxQ60wR68qsq9VC4JABV64EtyGL-AkUEIK0I8VOFba6OJLQXVpApn5Qux5TVmRCotowffdVfxqB9Sq3FeTUhHj9APMGP1DAQm4_c0Kum4fmBY-_W13CthqbDZJgm27Atiw8v0AUJ95ImgSERyi7WFAuPPEqHXBJteM_sU-fgvvg/s320/Shelf%20%234c.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>I do have some new books to fill in the gap. </b>😎 </td></tr></tbody></table>3. <b>W - Z</b>. Jo and I like to made day trips down to Qualicum Beach for lunch and to check out the various shops down there for a change of scenery. I found the Iona Whishaw book in one of their book stores. It's a historical mystery series set in the interior of BC. At least the first book is. Oddly enough I also bought a couple of books by Colson Whitehead at the same store. Harlem Shuffle was an ok mystery set in Harlem. The Intuitionist is more of a Sci Fi story as I read from the synopsis. Blackout is another of Connie Willis' Oxford Time Travel books. I enjoyed Doomsday Book very much. Two of my favorite non-fiction authors are Bill Bryson and Simon Winchester. Jo bought me his books about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary. I loved it and have read a few of his other books since. Jacqueline Winspear writes the Maisie Dobbs historical mystery series set in London after the War. I have yet to try the Last Policeman trilogy but I'm looking forward to reading the first book. Rebecca Yarros and Carlos Ruiz Zafon are both new authors to finish off this book shelf. </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7vFIzxODSBOyNaPOiTLA0DpY6ocN8LyqUXO7B_zNqnSlziuAZOX6jQvbAJoGMw9w0ZwXvfnVYtauUCDU1xaEvZDdmjz-6g05MqCmxdwIIoOPnCd6rGJsg7j42XDPEWjI2rW4_SUlWYO1tZOVhK9kfn__5tyrHLIBblsrhCwPJFEAG7xuzSo9uvg_HQvs/s3648/Study_5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7vFIzxODSBOyNaPOiTLA0DpY6ocN8LyqUXO7B_zNqnSlziuAZOX6jQvbAJoGMw9w0ZwXvfnVYtauUCDU1xaEvZDdmjz-6g05MqCmxdwIIoOPnCd6rGJsg7j42XDPEWjI2rW4_SUlWYO1tZOVhK9kfn__5tyrHLIBblsrhCwPJFEAG7xuzSo9uvg_HQvs/s320/Study_5.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Study a few years back. Not much different now.</b></td></tr></tbody></table>My last room to check out is the Den. Just a few shelves there. Enjoy your upcoming week.</p>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-35491959268921520222024-01-18T13:49:00.000-08:002024-01-18T13:49:41.792-08:00For Janice - Books Part 13<p>It's snowing again today but I managed to get out to Big Foot Donuts before it started. Tried all of their January creations. Yummy! Now all of us are snuggled inside, cozy and toasty warm.</p><p>After taking a couple of days off from looking at my book shelves / books to post about other things, I'm back to the bookshelf in the family room. It's the bottom left today, L's to R's. There are only two rows of books this time as that shelf also has games and puzzles. </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr-B9CsHcWdWbsntdtIaOGTofmVCjWx0HDQmWIHIHghuU736jMG2WrYXzuY9CqgRvbmhY8j_rO46IlKJo-VFyijc98ochv2bh3oyZ08tzgKd9Jb1oku_0SzrY7I29C7Z0hyphenhyphen0AJ5vPqHjLNbV00LdBDvagSZL2E_YOV3r0PihPI0EE5Y6PfBbPJWGgK2OQ/s3320/Shelf%20%233a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1918" data-original-width="3320" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr-B9CsHcWdWbsntdtIaOGTofmVCjWx0HDQmWIHIHghuU736jMG2WrYXzuY9CqgRvbmhY8j_rO46IlKJo-VFyijc98ochv2bh3oyZ08tzgKd9Jb1oku_0SzrY7I29C7Z0hyphenhyphen0AJ5vPqHjLNbV00LdBDvagSZL2E_YOV3r0PihPI0EE5Y6PfBbPJWGgK2OQ/s320/Shelf%20%233a.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>L's to M's</b></td></tr></tbody></table>1. <b>L's to M's</b>. The majority of the books in this grouping are mysteries. But there are a couple of others. Starting with a new author for me, Beth Lincoln, author of a young adult mystery, The Swifts. E.C.R. Lorac will be another new author for me. She writes the Robert MacDonald mystery series, amongst others. I have enjoyed a couple of Peter Lovesey's historical mysteries featuring Sgt Cribbs but Skeleton Hill is another series with Insp. Peter Diamond. Ross MacDonald was the husband of one of my favorite crime writers, Margaret Millar. He was known for his Lew Archer hard-boiled mystery series, which I have been enjoying very much. Blue City is one of his standalone mysteries. I was attracted to the titles of Susan Ella MacNeal's historical mystery series featuring Churchill's secretary. I've bought a couple of the books and hope to read the first this year. Many of Richard Matheson's horror stories have been turned into movies; I Am Legend, The Incredible Shrinking Man. I've enjoyed them very much. Hell House looks like a nice thriller. Jo bought me The Blackhouse by Peter May for Xmas a couple of years ago. I've bought a few others of his books since as well. This past year I read Robert McCammon's Boy's Life, an excellent novel. I'm looking forward to trying Gone South. I see the next few are a mite mixed up.. LOL. Val McDermid has written some excellent crime series; Tony Hill & Carol Jordan, Karen Pirie, etc, plus standalones. The three books are from various of her series. The Librarian Spy is a new author for me, just came out in 2022. And another new author that I saw in Books4Brains this past year, Helen MacDonald's Prophet. (I must behave a bit more with my visits to book stores in 2024. Does anyone else feel an obligation towards supporting all of your local book stores? What would we do without them?)</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGUu-fgnBJv-OF1Vx9Kh8czUYHXkSZoBhV857xIZThEsEESYSz7cjst9yFxFNDO2JucWmsinLScS8R0YuGwc2sCdFj5AXQKEQBtZvpkxpGjcwCku37UgS1PIIVjn_XxvoEM9UBibUj3zZka-gZLWBSaw1unUsGB5o6nvnH_Q9AFxhx_drJMRtDMZOTAAU/s3361/Shelf%20%233b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2052" data-original-width="3361" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGUu-fgnBJv-OF1Vx9Kh8czUYHXkSZoBhV857xIZThEsEESYSz7cjst9yFxFNDO2JucWmsinLScS8R0YuGwc2sCdFj5AXQKEQBtZvpkxpGjcwCku37UgS1PIIVjn_XxvoEM9UBibUj3zZka-gZLWBSaw1unUsGB5o6nvnH_Q9AFxhx_drJMRtDMZOTAAU/s320/Shelf%20%233b.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>M's - R's</b></td></tr></tbody></table>2. <b>M's continued to R's</b>. As I look through these books myself, I'm beginning to realize how many mysteries I've got and enjoy. Of course the first book is a fantasy, a new author J.M. McDermott. I've enjoyed the first two Sean Duffy mysteries set in northern Ireland very much. I've got a couple of others scattered around the house. 😃 D.A. Mishani sets his mysteries featuring police inspector Avraham Avraham in Israel but there has been a TV series set in New York (that Jo and I enjoyed very much) based on the books. Tare Moss's war widow mysteries are another new one for me. Stuart Neville's crime thrillers featuring Jack Lennon are also set in northern Ireland; another entertaining series. I received a collection of 2015 Pulitzer Prize winners from an auction a few years back and The Sympathizer was one of those books. A Forgery of Roses is another new author and is a gothic fantasy mystery. How's that for a mixture? I've enjoyed Dorothy Parker's poetry and sense of humor. This book is a collection of her Broadway reviews from 1918 - 1923. Sound interesting? I've read the first book in Caro Peacock's Liberty Lane historical mysteries. This is the 2nd book. I have yet to read Children of Chicago but the synopsis made it seem like an excellent thriller. Thomas Perry's Jane Whitefield thrillers, where she is someone who helps people in trouble disappear, has been most enjoyable. Preston & Child write horror stories. Mark Pryor's mysteries are set in Paris and feature the US embassy's head of security. The first book was entertaining. I've ben enjoying the Inspector Rebus books by Ian Rankin since Jo bought me the whole series back in 2007ish. Malcolm Fox is another character and he runs the Internal Affairs division in the same police station in Scotland. And finally there is Kathy Reichs, whose excellent forensic mysteries feature Temperance Brennan who works in both Montreal and North Carolina.</p><p>There you go. One more shelf to go tomorrow and then it's into the Den. Can't wait, eh? </p><p> </p>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-43307314007486662112024-01-17T14:37:00.000-08:002024-01-17T14:37:54.925-08:00Doggies are the spice of life.<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfHpPH8Txsm1Oa9T-Gwl3mipLr1_5WIi2FdfIZMMuFfC6PONnfaB0kFuNmx_xb-mvxAoDpHgQPNevuRZDb7qzw_qHyUa6kZBm7sHdoY3rylFvAoO-7ERYHP_4DorsI40VcpLvxgd8WS__hX-n6tMrbFWbawnzvimSeKx3PZmHb-yM6YdgI_SWLU5_2uFY/s3648/Bonnie%2016%20Jan.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfHpPH8Txsm1Oa9T-Gwl3mipLr1_5WIi2FdfIZMMuFfC6PONnfaB0kFuNmx_xb-mvxAoDpHgQPNevuRZDb7qzw_qHyUa6kZBm7sHdoY3rylFvAoO-7ERYHP_4DorsI40VcpLvxgd8WS__hX-n6tMrbFWbawnzvimSeKx3PZmHb-yM6YdgI_SWLU5_2uFY/s320/Bonnie%2016%20Jan.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>I hope Dad doesn't see me lick my foot.</b></td></tr></tbody></table>I was taking photos around the house yesterday and was followed by my friends. This post is just to have them say hi to you all.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrVZM44fPmMPks2f_czfgo-c7-njNa466kPlrRw-nA8rrdipJ721RAk72dx8QH9kzChgdbV65XNdZfmCRaOtjXzakLcaGKyrbyS7oawNr0orC_87fykt63Cp2AGWM81XlGsVksc2Wds7fVZZwWx_3AB0m9l6tDZWHQlf9RFkTVZhsGGxFvdxrxLUpv9mU/s3648/Clyde%2016%20Jan.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrVZM44fPmMPks2f_czfgo-c7-njNa466kPlrRw-nA8rrdipJ721RAk72dx8QH9kzChgdbV65XNdZfmCRaOtjXzakLcaGKyrbyS7oawNr0orC_87fykt63Cp2AGWM81XlGsVksc2Wds7fVZZwWx_3AB0m9l6tDZWHQlf9RFkTVZhsGGxFvdxrxLUpv9mU/s320/Clyde%2016%20Jan.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pay attention to me DAD! Pbfffft!</b></td></tr></tbody></table>Well, Clyde tends to say BARK!! BARK!! BARK!! a bit more.</p><p>We had snow overnight but it's sunny and warm at the moment and has melted quite a bit. Enjoy the rest of your week!</p>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-15608256703207306332024-01-16T13:47:00.000-08:002024-01-16T13:47:12.467-08:00Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRNu1JEoDH9XzBYvr4bidmCESCqnnCV3eSHmKaRkh15BpBc0PhVVns7lFkaX0eaprwLen7BZ_IVRFIyFrgdmWyJxMARYnL0Z76YknxiQ_u3ojGs0ai11_QtNOX6RMXVbbkQAA7dZ8Bb9PTWzRdlZV7rjWjYaiqYBTSn86mTysvu1fJ3z-YWuhGxWAU_Rs/s594/surprise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRNu1JEoDH9XzBYvr4bidmCESCqnnCV3eSHmKaRkh15BpBc0PhVVns7lFkaX0eaprwLen7BZ_IVRFIyFrgdmWyJxMARYnL0Z76YknxiQ_u3ojGs0ai11_QtNOX6RMXVbbkQAA7dZ8Bb9PTWzRdlZV7rjWjYaiqYBTSn86mTysvu1fJ3z-YWuhGxWAU_Rs/s320/surprise.jpg" width="269" /></a></div>Yesterday around 5 p.m. there was a knock on the door. Clyde started barking and Bonnie decided to take up the song. When I opened the door, much to my surprise there was a postal driver at the door with a bunch of books for me. I had ordered a few in December and lo and behold, six arrived at the same time. Too much for the super mailbox that services us so they were delivered personally.<p></p><p>So today, I'm going to just focus on the new books. I've not completed any since my last reading update so it's all new books babee!</p><p><b>New Books</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdaXH_WQygqpHApf0B2JyYfwn4aHcOhtVlQsJcRQVdrGs1H50PEc6dFcsjius42A5-cE7hlEXBA0IWqWBN45c3q5X_LK6nn_jGuWLaVcjZia25B3If7j2Sj-7Hcx_bu6qHbnuRcVvRVXqzLAzdRz1q375ozOSs9J_ucrjbsW8iLUtei1Wkw0mc4yQHUd0/s396/Travel%20Light.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdaXH_WQygqpHApf0B2JyYfwn4aHcOhtVlQsJcRQVdrGs1H50PEc6dFcsjius42A5-cE7hlEXBA0IWqWBN45c3q5X_LK6nn_jGuWLaVcjZia25B3If7j2Sj-7Hcx_bu6qHbnuRcVvRVXqzLAzdRz1q375ozOSs9J_ucrjbsW8iLUtei1Wkw0mc4yQHUd0/w161-h200/Travel%20Light.jpg" width="161" /></a></div>1. <b>Travel Light</b> by <b>Naomi Mitchison</b> (Fantasy / 1952). I'm not sure where I heard about this book, it might have been listed at the back of another I had read. At any rate, Mitchison is a new author for me.<p></p><p>"<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">From the dark ages to modern times, from the dragons of medieval forests to Constantinople, this is a fantastic and philosophical fairy-tale journey that will appeal to fans of Harry Potter, Diana Wynne Jones, and T. H. White’s </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915;">The Sword in the Stone.</i><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjemVehzVoKQAIADNpnrdXfAk1ogjYoqiVUlvnPRwu9zVRGnzr6S3ZbGBW7qcZ6GuJzmandjybDzGM8HehQywl75qc53ikCj5nL8fuqt1He6FdtcbbUWhcapR0WO4wY7g-T0a_u7ZIhiFmFxSASVJyuwOcoF4oTIpvSy1t2bAHtd_Sto7AYI80LA0UvVQ/s1600/Scourge%20betw%20stars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjemVehzVoKQAIADNpnrdXfAk1ogjYoqiVUlvnPRwu9zVRGnzr6S3ZbGBW7qcZ6GuJzmandjybDzGM8HehQywl75qc53ikCj5nL8fuqt1He6FdtcbbUWhcapR0WO4wY7g-T0a_u7ZIhiFmFxSASVJyuwOcoF4oTIpvSy1t2bAHtd_Sto7AYI80LA0UvVQ/w125-h200/Scourge%20betw%20stars.jpg" width="125" /></a></div>2. <b>The Scourge Between Stars</b> by <b>Ness Brown</b> (Horror / Sci Fi / 2023). Another new author.<p></p><p>"<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-weight: 600;">Ness Brown's <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Scourge Between Stars</i> is </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-weight: 600;">a tense, claustrophobic sci-fi/horror blend set aboard a doomed generation ship harboring something terrible within its walls.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">As acting captain of the starship </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915;">Calypso</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">, Jacklyn Albright is responsible for keeping the last of humanity alive as they limp back to Earth from their forebears’ failed colony on a distant planet.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Faced with constant threats of starvation and destruction in the treacherous minefield of interstellar space, Jacklyn's crew has reached their breaking point. As unrest begins to spread throughout the ship’s Wards, a new threat emerges, picking off crew members in grim, bloody fashion.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Jacklyn and her team must hunt down the ship’s unknown intruder if they have any hope of making it back to their solar system alive." (Sounds a bit like Alien, eh?)</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgllhd575WA-QTo2XebZOtEIX_rMB2txyUa8qaNSE4naRw0bZcf7onNd1JJW8JjCSXgFiOvGlEQZNReK51QhenQihbvjvvd2Eamr-Xt2UIEYU8JgQwdBwwD0p6NtZSDTaQr1_EjDE1GI5HMs5ugMxT1iINYnYVqdz6Kys_T5EgLVJif0T0j5YtJ9V6Pc3o/s475/Natural%20Causes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgllhd575WA-QTo2XebZOtEIX_rMB2txyUa8qaNSE4naRw0bZcf7onNd1JJW8JjCSXgFiOvGlEQZNReK51QhenQihbvjvvd2Eamr-Xt2UIEYU8JgQwdBwwD0p6NtZSDTaQr1_EjDE1GI5HMs5ugMxT1iINYnYVqdz6Kys_T5EgLVJif0T0j5YtJ9V6Pc3o/w133-h200/Natural%20Causes.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>3. <b>Natural Causes</b> by <b>James Oswald</b> (Inspector McLean #1 / 2012). A friend on Goodreads provided an excellent review of the book so I thought I should check it out.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A young girl's mutilated body is discovered in a room that has lain sealed for the last sixty years. Her remains are carefully arranged in what seems to have been a macabre ritual.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">For newly appointed Edinburgh Detective Inspector Tony McLean, this baffling cold case ought to be a low priority, but he is haunted by the young victim and her grisly death. Meanwhile, the city is horrified by a series of bloody killings -- deaths for which there appears to be neither rhyme nor reason, and which leave Edinburgh's police at a loss.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">McLean is convinced that these deaths are somehow connected to the terrible ceremonial killing of the girl, all those years ago. It is an irrational theory. And one that will lead McLean closer to the heart of a terrifying and ancient evil . . ."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpFnoQkizuwqcggLvIF3Qenty2tm4KcZkPAkJuy9_fr_k42kF93JIrOlsl5WGdqW7qi7ck7eoyPjhApO233rqOUVaU_F15ezy-phBa2H0t4ZglGg2AFhekA5RQDsCb8eMdShi-wLks8sQ_DMSQroPDqYm_KYgByfIYLqDMFRTjW5mtYcVcm_rNEt4-mKI/s400/Life%20after%20Life.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="261" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpFnoQkizuwqcggLvIF3Qenty2tm4KcZkPAkJuy9_fr_k42kF93JIrOlsl5WGdqW7qi7ck7eoyPjhApO233rqOUVaU_F15ezy-phBa2H0t4ZglGg2AFhekA5RQDsCb8eMdShi-wLks8sQ_DMSQroPDqYm_KYgByfIYLqDMFRTjW5mtYcVcm_rNEt4-mKI/w131-h200/Life%20after%20Life.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>4. <b>Life After Life </b>by <b>Kate Atkinson</b> (Todd Family #1 / 2013). I have yet to be disappointed by Atkinson. She is a fine story teller.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What if you could live again and again, until you got it right?</span></i></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">On a cold and snowy night in 1910, Ursula Todd is born to an English banker and his wife. She dies before she can draw her first breath. On that same cold and snowy night, Ursula Todd is born, lets out a lusty wail, and embarks upon a life that will be, to say the least, unusual. For as she grows, she also dies, repeatedly, in a variety of ways, while the young century marches on towards its second cataclysmic world war.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Does Ursula's apparently infinite number of lives give her the power to save the world from its inevitable destiny? And if she can — will she?"</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkn7kF68gbUqc9OLrWuLYqm3HoNcBcOosm7HGU_6GX3Wk6j0Dld9wNUfV7H_HaUpiH5zp5advigoh-ryvtYIM8tb7V84YZnj6irs7IykRyUuqhtahebyNbSIog3YDDCrTWN7lEP_Go9i1VLN9Y_qbLQtgo4w08-6PaVkyg__CZOjGE92HgT4sUXZb-GZo/s2114/Boggart%20fights%20back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2114" data-original-width="1399" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkn7kF68gbUqc9OLrWuLYqm3HoNcBcOosm7HGU_6GX3Wk6j0Dld9wNUfV7H_HaUpiH5zp5advigoh-ryvtYIM8tb7V84YZnj6irs7IykRyUuqhtahebyNbSIog3YDDCrTWN7lEP_Go9i1VLN9Y_qbLQtgo4w08-6PaVkyg__CZOjGE92HgT4sUXZb-GZo/w133-h200/Boggart%20fights%20back.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>5. <b>The Boggart Fights Back</b> by <b>Susan Cooper</b> (The Boggart #3 / 2018). I've been enjoying Cooper's young adult fantasy series, The Dark is Rising. I've yet to try the Boggart trilogy but I'm looking forward to it. It seems like a fun read.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Boggart is back for a new adventure of magic and mayhem from Newbery winner Susan Cooper.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Magic is in the air when Allie and Jay Cameron visit their ancestors’ ancient Castle Keep in Scotland, tucked in its unspoiled loch. The twins wake the mischievous shape-shifting Boggart and his infamous cousin Nessie, of Loch Ness fame. But a summer of fun-loving trickery with the Old Things is invaded by a dangerous real estate developer called William Trout.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Trout has big plans for a luxury resort on the loch, and little care for its people or the law. Bulldozers get to work. The future of the loch, its seals, and all its beauty are threatened. The twins and Angus Cameron, their grandfather, mobilize to save his shop and the loch, but it’s soon clear they will need help of a different sort…</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">In a race against time, the Boggarts recruit help from other Old Things of Scotland: hair-raising creatures of the Wild Magic. But are the Blue Men of the Minch and the Nuckelavee too terrifying for humans to handle? How can they drive out the invader? What’s certain is that Mr. Trout is in for a wild ride in this comical, page-turning adventure from Newbery Medalist Susan Cooper."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgskursw_wPKt7l0UpKxgz33QNivaQwtU2ajxj-YxK4FisfY7zGwc5IMDurGXt-TmQnEscfyL_ZXCMWsvLvHQfrRdFX0gDlJZjgHrlE0nhyphenhyphen6ljZ_BKdL81Bmc4sjrQUDEEv_40-_JpJXbhQsUzowK5J3l7KCYt7Gsi2wFDAJTmADgjFRmlPIXz2VP3noE4/s1500/Oath%20&%20Honor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="969" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgskursw_wPKt7l0UpKxgz33QNivaQwtU2ajxj-YxK4FisfY7zGwc5IMDurGXt-TmQnEscfyL_ZXCMWsvLvHQfrRdFX0gDlJZjgHrlE0nhyphenhyphen6ljZ_BKdL81Bmc4sjrQUDEEv_40-_JpJXbhQsUzowK5J3l7KCYt7Gsi2wFDAJTmADgjFRmlPIXz2VP3noE4/w129-h200/Oath%20&%20Honor.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>6. <b>Oath and Honor</b> by <b>Liz Cheney </b>(Non Fiction / 2023). This will be the next book in my non-series challenge.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A gripping first-hand account from inside the halls of Congress as Donald Trump and his enablers betrayed the American people and the Constitution--leading to the violent attack on our Capitol on January 6th, 2021—by the House Republican leader who dared to stand up to it.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">In the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump and many around him, including certain other elected Republican officials, intentionally breached their oath to the they ignored the rulings of dozens of courts, plotted to overturn a lawful election, and provoked a violent attack on our Capitol. Liz Cheney, one of the few Republican officials to take a stand against these efforts, witnessed the attack first-hand, and then helped lead the Congressional Select Committee investigation into how it happened. In Oath and Honor , she tells the story of this perilous moment in our history, those who helped Trump spread the stolen election lie, those whose actions preserved our constitutional framework, and the risks we still face."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">There you go. Anything look interesting to you?</span></span></div>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-86450817366673094802024-01-15T12:40:00.000-08:002024-01-15T12:40:02.694-08:00For Janice - Books Part 12<p>Well, little Clyde and I went out early this morning to the vet so he could get his Libretto (*sp) shot. It's to help with arthritis. It seems to be working as he's once again jumping up on the bed by himself and running up and down stairs. <br />At the moment he's asleep in his doggy bed with me in the Den. Bonnie and Jo are watching FBI in the family room. Maybe we'll (just Jo and I of course) go to Benino's for lunch today. </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ElOWf02FLl_8HovZSBcZZ86GlHC9A1zx566jO2PJ_W97AWj5KEBXN9IWQGGKQuRNztmWHVcfh-Q-qpcpXimEGNJiy1Th8bCWizvQuHX1WbcxbNLOqDGQQPeWwn4UPSin9ZbVQ3ti1notQGInQfpl6myPnnMCcmlq7Nh6gEqo0WDJOBQh07X7EGWvbj8/s3555/Shelf%20%232a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2091" data-original-width="3555" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ElOWf02FLl_8HovZSBcZZ86GlHC9A1zx566jO2PJ_W97AWj5KEBXN9IWQGGKQuRNztmWHVcfh-Q-qpcpXimEGNJiy1Th8bCWizvQuHX1WbcxbNLOqDGQQPeWwn4UPSin9ZbVQ3ti1notQGInQfpl6myPnnMCcmlq7Nh6gEqo0WDJOBQh07X7EGWvbj8/s320/Shelf%20%232a.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The G's</b></td></tr></tbody></table>1. <b>The G's</b>. Yesterday I started going through the hidden book storage in the family room. I'll continue with that today. Neil Gaiman has become a favorite of mine in the Fantasy genre. I've been working through his graphic novel series featuring Sandman and his kin. I've enjoyed some of his books. The Neil Gaiman Reader is a collection of short stories and excerpts from some of his novels. Jo found me a copy of The Graveyard Book when she realized it was one I hadn't yet. I've read the first Cormoran Strike mystery by Galbraith and really enjoyed it. I've got the next few on my bookshelves and hope to read #2 this year. I'd also like to try the TV series based on the books. Jo and I watch the old Perry Mason TV series all the time on MeTV. We've now seen them a few times because their on a cycle but they're still fun. I've just started trying the books and I enjoyed the first one. I generally like William Gibson's take on Sci Fi. I have given up on a couple of his books but I've enjoyed the Sprawl trilogy so far. Sue Grafton has been a favorite ever since I found her. I try to read one book a year at least but I'm now coming to the end of the series. Bye bye Kinsey. Elly Griffiths is a relatively new author for me. She writes the Ruth Galloway mystery series and I enjoyed the first book. She also writes the Harbinder Kaur series. I've got the first book of that. I haven't tried John Gwynne's fantasy yet, probably intimidated by the size. But I am looking forward to giving Malice a go. MR Hall writes the Jenny Cooper forensic mystery series. CBC relocated the books to Canada for their TV series, Coroner, which is excellent and actually made me try the books. Enjoying so far. I've mentioned Timothy Hallinan before. His Poke Rafferty mystery series set in Bangkok is a new one for me. </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmbVIWdCh8GZaGlEKuiqff7EusjUB5GCojdrdSHdogewRJJgF9-jrlN-wCYkuQZ29lUrSWFPiW69GJwtOjD0J1J3FAO5KYwtY0wnXkAA04eXayvehTlyczd0g6AZm7rWO_71q5YGpr10nCRAmRVOciW4vTDR9KyeAk7qQzCA0FA-eA3lDM57QJNVbW5U8/s3648/Shelf%20%232b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmbVIWdCh8GZaGlEKuiqff7EusjUB5GCojdrdSHdogewRJJgF9-jrlN-wCYkuQZ29lUrSWFPiW69GJwtOjD0J1J3FAO5KYwtY0wnXkAA04eXayvehTlyczd0g6AZm7rWO_71q5YGpr10nCRAmRVOciW4vTDR9KyeAk7qQzCA0FA-eA3lDM57QJNVbW5U8/s320/Shelf%20%232b.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>H - J</b></td></tr></tbody></table>2. <b>H - J's</b>. How do you like that. Poke Rafferty made it to both groups. LOL. Sophie Hannah is a new author for me. She has revamped the Hercule Poirot series and also writes her own mysteries, Elsa Hart writes the Li Du mystery series set in China. The first book was excellent. Darkness and Light is the 3rd book in John Harvery's Frank Elder mystery series. He also writes one featuring Charles Resnick. The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino is another of those mysteries that sounded very interesting and encourages me to travel around the world with my reading. It is the first book in his Detective Galileo series. I took a course in Mythology back in my university days and have always been interested in it. I thought Charlotte Higgin's Greek Myths sounded interesting. Now to read it. Lyn Hightower was one of those mystery authors I took a chance on a few years back. When we still had ABC Books in downtown Courtenay and I first moved here I regularly spent time there going through the mystery section. I found The Debt Collector and it was so good. It took awhile but I've been able to enjoy a few of her books since. Fortunes of the Dead is the 2nd book in her Lena Padgett series. I've kind of avoided Joe Hill, son of Stephen King, for some reason. But Joe and I enjoyed the NOS4A2 TV series and I really liked his Locke & Key graphic novel series. So I think I need to delve into his work a bit more. Eh? Susan Hill wrote The Woman in Black amongst other works. I've been enjoying her Simon Serrailler mystery series; The Shadows in the Street in part of that series. The other day I read an article about Howard's End is on the Landing and it seemed right up my alley. Basically, one day she went looking for a book to read and discovered all these other books that she'd basically forgotten about in her bookshelves. And decided to spend a year reading them. Neat, eh? This is the book of that year. Two new mystery writers next. Adrian Hyland, Diamond Dove, writes the Emily Tempest mystery series. Joe Ide is author of the IQ novels. The last books are mysteries from authors I've already tried. Arnaldur Indridason sets his mysteries in Iceland and PD James writes the Inspector Dalgleish mystery series, one my favorites, intelligent and so well written.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0cuQADHgVStcPtUvW_kjQowU7WBVwd4EGoehsFj07tm4VIEKp0tBV3aWn98o8baoUbAt7EfMIbdJ0wyBGQcK77dPYdAN-92R9K9TCydHaQrGCdll634M7zLyEkXrP2D5rJ1xlVbJimHedijE4CvUEooKd16U8715hZ3T1qZ-HqSgFq37NuFzX_U62OGg/s3460/Shelf%20%232c.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1991" data-original-width="3460" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0cuQADHgVStcPtUvW_kjQowU7WBVwd4EGoehsFj07tm4VIEKp0tBV3aWn98o8baoUbAt7EfMIbdJ0wyBGQcK77dPYdAN-92R9K9TCydHaQrGCdll634M7zLyEkXrP2D5rJ1xlVbJimHedijE4CvUEooKd16U8715hZ3T1qZ-HqSgFq37NuFzX_U62OGg/s320/Shelf%20%232c.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The J's and onward to L</b></td></tr></tbody></table>3. <b>J's continued - the L's</b>. So let's see. We'll start with some horror. Ruby Jean Jensen wrote Mama, about possessed dolls. Creepy. Home Sweet Home is about summer camp... and more? J. Sydney Jones is author of the Viennese mysteries. It took me a long time to finally find The Empty Mirror. But I had tried The German Agent, a WWI spy thriller and enjoyed that. Lars Kepler is one of the Scandinavian mystery writers. His Joona Linna series is a nice psychological series. Jo bought me the Key & Key Look at the History of Sketch comedy for Christmas. Jordan Key was part of the comedy sketch duo of Key and Peele. I saw the book talked about on Stephen Colbert's talk show and told Jo it looked very interesting. I just read Caitlin Kiernan's first book in her Tinfoil Dossier Sci Fi series. I used to read Stephen King all the time. He wrote some of my favorite horror novels. But I kind of got a bit tired of his work. I've started exploring again in the past few years. I look forward to trying Fairy Tale and Later. My daughter Jennifer read some of Naomi Klein's books (I think) when she was getting her Communication's degree. Doppelganger is a fiction story that looked really interesting. Two other new authors for me next. TJ Klune's In the Lives of Puppets is a neat looking fantasy. Mary Robinette Kowal's The Calculating Stars is the first book in her Lady Astronaut series. I think I heard about it from one of my Goodreads friends. Next is another book in the Commissario Brunetti crime series set in Venice (I've mentioned previously.) Great mystery series. Jonathan Lethem's Gun, with Occasional Music sounds a bit like Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next fantasy mystery series. Finally closing off this segment is the sequel to Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby.</p><p>Some books for you to check out as you start a new week. Enjoy.</p>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-17808210963914676132024-01-14T11:07:00.000-08:002024-01-14T11:07:20.161-08:00For Janice - Books Part 11<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR0ubuG1mtcjcYxeDGAZE3CRIDIEP2OA-tV5JbDTGOpAEDGk6WNPAeLTaywIC3SAqEDBZPZu0DkDDWW_ERbAFjxg3kDmusKorUP4ggfSRTl_RTwwRcNyJDogd9-9VN5YqzfWd3bZwBYn3sZ0DTQi9T1jG4zfQqg64wfMGme1EdkdLIUlMYwz3q8c91WeE/s622/thaw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="477" data-original-width="622" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR0ubuG1mtcjcYxeDGAZE3CRIDIEP2OA-tV5JbDTGOpAEDGk6WNPAeLTaywIC3SAqEDBZPZu0DkDDWW_ERbAFjxg3kDmusKorUP4ggfSRTl_RTwwRcNyJDogd9-9VN5YqzfWd3bZwBYn3sZ0DTQi9T1jG4zfQqg64wfMGme1EdkdLIUlMYwz3q8c91WeE/s320/thaw.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>It seems we've had the worst of our brief, oh so brief, cold snap. Jo and I stayed home yesterday... well, I went out for an hour to run some errands but other than that, it was relax with the puppies on the sofa for most of the day. Not sure what we're going to do today. Maybe I'll do some ironing!<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghTm4KKbPBdG3PgTxLtszDu4Lq4uDCAieGGN1dIvwOngE4jL6e9FNfjU6GR_lLewNnjn_bw8Kr18fo-Lz5KTks4hAq5MEww9AgepfFw4utZrZbGWGZ6WrkgdxGnqPRiGfRyB7MLiY4ZOeLMUcmrUpcawZus5B81P7hxrBrbN0uh1U06TVuwRUlC6Y4N58/s400/Eve.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghTm4KKbPBdG3PgTxLtszDu4Lq4uDCAieGGN1dIvwOngE4jL6e9FNfjU6GR_lLewNnjn_bw8Kr18fo-Lz5KTks4hAq5MEww9AgepfFw4utZrZbGWGZ6WrkgdxGnqPRiGfRyB7MLiY4ZOeLMUcmrUpcawZus5B81P7hxrBrbN0uh1U06TVuwRUlC6Y4N58/w133-h200/Eve.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>I'm making steady progress on Eve by Cat Bohannon. It's my Tome challenge and I'm trying to read a chapter a day. Very interesting book.<p></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLt-Lf8YCxGJWVo56kBh2EDAJPu2Kx9LMuCxuPVidIgUgfUBmIWCZ2Q5bi_g65TgP3y0R0uYaGMDWGKqVZPwHDu06aSoP0qH-j9fobKIElw17XeFOWcTHuuoORaCV_W8ZYULEtcviGSJjWKECLRjP-7P1UREUjktJTrSH74H1RsqJ7XlQPBY4pOSOjd-4/s3648/new%20family%20room%20thursday%20005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="2736" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLt-Lf8YCxGJWVo56kBh2EDAJPu2Kx9LMuCxuPVidIgUgfUBmIWCZ2Q5bi_g65TgP3y0R0uYaGMDWGKqVZPwHDu06aSoP0qH-j9fobKIElw17XeFOWcTHuuoORaCV_W8ZYULEtcviGSJjWKECLRjP-7P1UREUjktJTrSH74H1RsqJ7XlQPBY4pOSOjd-4/w240-h320/new%20family%20room%20thursday%20005.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Family Room bookshelf</b></td></tr></tbody></table>But for today, I'm going to continue looking at bookshelves and the books on them. I have moved into the family room and discussed the visible shelves.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi68YwIvkHH9oi7UInm41GUfxLT6HJR888AUq2kuKAoN0NRbnao-CGAv3ABZd7jpMuakPas68EQJaW4F82e-YCijhNEXAJtY0w-QUPnpOm30fkQM0RX0g_fKmRkT-UnfCTU9btombkcueehz5KWjxm2nvw4uhITPNOyRq4N0A0XArdfouMm-bWfy3Mqew/s3515/bottom%20cabinet%20doors%20open.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2458" data-original-width="3515" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi68YwIvkHH9oi7UInm41GUfxLT6HJR888AUq2kuKAoN0NRbnao-CGAv3ABZd7jpMuakPas68EQJaW4F82e-YCijhNEXAJtY0w-QUPnpOm30fkQM0RX0g_fKmRkT-UnfCTU9btombkcueehz5KWjxm2nvw4uhITPNOyRq4N0A0XArdfouMm-bWfy3Mqew/s320/bottom%20cabinet%20doors%20open.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Behind the closed doors</b></td></tr></tbody></table>Today I'll start with the bottom shelves behind the closed doors. Have I stoked enough mystery?</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5r0dasfQ0iZpEKsUdjJu9e9RyEljMBOtjjTSXHFAheu4QG2VJU5-UGJOYs0e-J6w9rABkc5NS93H81Apo6W9IR65yP6DWUZV7ISWbvuR7hIY_9O-yy6Y-eMJkuz7cKThI6EsbTKK9Zpn_oBiaZ6E8h2kTBYyaYknpRmb0_nRPyjopQWyDRB9zicBvpGk/s2835/Shelf%20%231a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2141" data-original-width="2835" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5r0dasfQ0iZpEKsUdjJu9e9RyEljMBOtjjTSXHFAheu4QG2VJU5-UGJOYs0e-J6w9rABkc5NS93H81Apo6W9IR65yP6DWUZV7ISWbvuR7hIY_9O-yy6Y-eMJkuz7cKThI6EsbTKK9Zpn_oBiaZ6E8h2kTBYyaYknpRmb0_nRPyjopQWyDRB9zicBvpGk/s320/Shelf%20%231a.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The A's</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br />There just isn't enough space to put all of these books on our shelves so a lot are stored here. I do read them and set them free. Honest. There are in alphabetical order from top left - top right - bottom left and finally bottom right. For the most part they are stacked three deep so I'll do one shelf at a time. Let's begin with the A's. Mostly mysteries to start but there is a mixture. I was introduced to Elizabeth Acevedo this past year, an interesting writer who tends to tell her stories in verse. The two books I read were favorites of 2023. Jussi Adler-Olsen writes the Department Q mysteries set in Denmark. I've enjoyed the 1st two books and need to get back to this series as it was excellent. Dead Dead Girls is a mystery by a new author for me, Canadian author Nekesa Afia, who sets her series in Harlem. Omar El Akkad is another Canadian author. What Strange Paradise won the Giller Prize in 2021. I have a few of Margery Allingham's books spread throughout the house, depending on their size mostly. She is author of the Albert Campion mysteries. I mentioned her previously as one of the 4 Queens of Crime; Allingham, Christie, Marsh and Sayers. Chester Anderson, The Butterfly Kid, is another new author. I saw the book at 2nd Page Books in Courtenay and it did sound interesting. Piers Anthony wrote some of my favorite Sci Fi / Fantasy series. Unicorn Point is the 6th book in the Apprentice Adept series. Kate Atkinson is an author who can do no wrong. Whether it's her Jackson Brodie mystery series or an others of her excellent books, she does know how to spin a tail. Atkinson was the focus of my most recent reading <a href="https://bill-booksbooksbooks.blogspot.com/search/label/Focus%20-%20Kate%20Atkinson"><b>update</b></a>. Canadian author Margaret Atwood is another favorite. I've enjoyed her fiction, Sci Fi (The Handmaid's Tale), her poetry, her essays. Prodigious and excellent author. Old Babes in the Woods is her most recent work, a collection of her short stories.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGaM2WfKSFbYvzOJVEwzukY0oY6jEy9BkEXJyq8pXY4oNSMwPkL9_XxROZ-zcFGrejO7oI_x8sjrIlo8UdpRUUgBLUAlybc8WD_TcsR48dbaEbXbVz-ld4BmSm6xd7vs9B6jlu4U-ddUAV4MBAZiB0_EOmnyIi7F9ar1GrH8Dc1eQVH6cqajAQA945TrI/s3363/Shelf%20%231b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2255" data-original-width="3363" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGaM2WfKSFbYvzOJVEwzukY0oY6jEy9BkEXJyq8pXY4oNSMwPkL9_XxROZ-zcFGrejO7oI_x8sjrIlo8UdpRUUgBLUAlybc8WD_TcsR48dbaEbXbVz-ld4BmSm6xd7vs9B6jlu4U-ddUAV4MBAZiB0_EOmnyIi7F9ar1GrH8Dc1eQVH6cqajAQA945TrI/s320/Shelf%20%231b.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The A's to C's</b></td></tr></tbody></table>2. <b>A's continued - C's</b>. Another Atwood starts this row. For some reason I've never read Alias Grace. Jo and I enjoyed the TV mini-series based on the book very much. I finally picked up a copy of the book. I've mentioned Iain M. Banks before. He wrote the excellent Culture Sci Fi series. I'm still working through that. He also wrote many standalones. Transition falls within that category. The next two are new mystery authors for me; Base & Emory are Canadian authors who have started the Priscilla Tempest mystery series. Quentin Bates has set his mystery series in Iceland. Belinda Bauer is an English author. Finders Keepers is the 3rd book in her Exmoor trilogy. The Facts of Life and Death is a standalone. I've enjoyed her work very much so far. S.J. Bennet is another new mystery writer, featuring Her Majesty the Queen as an investigator. We'll see. Rock, Paper, Tiger by Lisa Brackmann was such an excellent surprise as a new mystery writer for me. I look forward to trying the 2nd book in her Ellie McEnroe series, Hour of the Rat. Alan Bradley is a Canadian author of the Flavia de Luce mystery series, featuring the precocious, irritating but interesting youngster, battling with her sisters and solving mysteries. Geraldine Brooks, author of Horse, is a new author for me. I've heard good things about the book. I mentioned Ken Bruen when I talked about books in other rooms. I guess they should all be together. He writes the excellent Irish mystery series featuring crusty detective Jack Taylor. Also an excellent TV series. John Burdette, author of Bangkok Haunts, obviously sets his mystery series in Bangkok; featuring excellent stories, corruption, all sorts of neat stuff. Andrea Camilleri sets his Inspector Montalbano series in Italy. I can't say how much I like it yet as I've only read one and it didn't blow me away, but it was still entertaining. John Dickson Carr featured Dr, Gideon Fell in his mysteries, written in the 30s and continued into the 50s. I liked the first book. Jonathan Carroll is a new author for me, writer of Sci Fi and Fantasy. I enjoyed his collection of short stories, The Panic Hand. It was excellent.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdbleM5klG4Omlu2L-ORYTqR_jQaDbiLQ3avUBrEWIZ35XCAWUzVnOWyv2OoospNcx1NqbwB6ZeF5VPYNO6MKR2orc1Va9AJtpqKj3HjIM14_vaO-ykafZ9lRp6yl8iiPKIBujg3tJnAaKaEzqCPPAegPGVmMmm3tX_GKMqvQObyqvHsaogpJVM3qTSA/s3388/Shelf%20%231c.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2150" data-original-width="3388" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdbleM5klG4Omlu2L-ORYTqR_jQaDbiLQ3avUBrEWIZ35XCAWUzVnOWyv2OoospNcx1NqbwB6ZeF5VPYNO6MKR2orc1Va9AJtpqKj3HjIM14_vaO-ykafZ9lRp6yl8iiPKIBujg3tJnAaKaEzqCPPAegPGVmMmm3tX_GKMqvQObyqvHsaogpJVM3qTSA/s320/Shelf%20%231c.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>C's to F's</b></td></tr></tbody></table>3. <b>C's continued to F's</b>. As usual there is a mix of new to familiar authors and of genres. Coq au Vin is the 2nd book of Charlotte Carter's Nanette Hayes mystery series. This one takes place in Paris. She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan is a new author for me, a historical fantasy set in China. And yes, it probably should be under P... LOL. I have quite a few of Ann Cleeves mysteries. Harbour Street is one of her Vera Stanhope series. Also a great TV series. I read the first book in Gary Corby's Athenian historical mystery series and The Ionia Sanction is #2. Edmund Crispin is an odd, unique mystery writer and his Gervase Fen books have been enjoyable. I do look forward to reading them all. I bought Consumed by David Cronenberg to see if his writing is as weird as his movies. Elizabeth Daly wrote her Henry Gamadge mystery series in the 40s, The Book of the Dead was #8. I saw the David Demchuk book, Red X, when I was down in Nanaimo. It's a 'horror' story set in Toronto's Gay district. Sounded interesting. Sky to Sky is a mystery series set in BC, featuring truck driver / mystery solver Hunter Rayne. I liked the first book. Adrian Edmondson is a British comedian and this is basically the story of his life. Martin Edwards is a new mystery writer for me and seems to be prolific. Gallows Court is the first in his Rachel Savernake golden age mystery series. Liz Evans is most enjoyable. Her mysteries feature English PI Grace Smith, kind of a cross between Stephanie Plum and Kinsey Milhone. The first two books were most enjoyable. Charles Finch writes another historical mystery series featuring armchair detective Charles Lenox. I enjoyed the first book enough to try the 2nd in the series. Karin Fossum writes a mystery series set in Sweden featuring police inspector Sejer. I've enjoyed the first book I tried very much. Finally in this cabinet is Francis Fyfield's Shadow on the Mirror, the first book in her Sarah Fortune mystery series. I've tried her work and enjoyed but struggled to the the first books in her Sarah Fortune and her Helen West books. Looking forward to exploring more.</p><p>So there you go. Enough books to check out for you? Enjoy your upcoming week.</p>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-77264229874416868522024-01-12T13:49:00.000-08:002024-01-12T13:49:05.624-08:00Reading Update #2 of January 2024<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQQ3WPtROWpcCvuoGKcZRGIjkHyy3oAIaoDJ4-pkejyYCl7bJi7K3GVuXsCDkOt7ZRLdhGy7j-OYKtZS9SWyQ7tNH4Ut1YIV3rnbKZlhX9HxfBAiuZKhS0DKGuaCIQXumH1FsjZZwvGFe2HA2VfBkOp4o9Ki3LWR8MBVw5uwjMhR5oDgPr1BCTpu2Q2OE/s474/cold1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="474" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQQ3WPtROWpcCvuoGKcZRGIjkHyy3oAIaoDJ4-pkejyYCl7bJi7K3GVuXsCDkOt7ZRLdhGy7j-OYKtZS9SWyQ7tNH4Ut1YIV3rnbKZlhX9HxfBAiuZKhS0DKGuaCIQXumH1FsjZZwvGFe2HA2VfBkOp4o9Ki3LWR8MBVw5uwjMhR5oDgPr1BCTpu2Q2OE/s320/cold1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>So we are having the coldest weather we've had in a few years. But it's supposed to start warming up tomorrow or the next day. A bit of snow today to go along with the cold. Made it a perfect reason to have McDonald's today. Don't you think? <p></p><p>Taking a quick break from my ongoing look at our book shelves and books to provide a reading update. I've completed two more books this past week, making it 3 so far in 2024. I'll provide my reviews and also the synopses of the next two, plus synopses of any books I might have bought since my last update.</p><p><b>Just Finished</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWw45IYpp2R7IwtGyTr5Eoc0-3XPphUXaQvb3RHkxtc_5i1b5K9bfo0UKJllF84npCfZ1lCp9Glg0zLgGD5CDmy-kU3Y1QzXrG-PBtda6Pk3wZ_QptURT3YhoOcnPQyI5o6cc0hw6f2qkD2k-WM8-LpfRW9havpzHkRKFsdNV5I52hsk_OodjifT1n3_w/s475/Rocannon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="285" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWw45IYpp2R7IwtGyTr5Eoc0-3XPphUXaQvb3RHkxtc_5i1b5K9bfo0UKJllF84npCfZ1lCp9Glg0zLgGD5CDmy-kU3Y1QzXrG-PBtda6Pk3wZ_QptURT3YhoOcnPQyI5o6cc0hw6f2qkD2k-WM8-LpfRW9havpzHkRKFsdNV5I52hsk_OodjifT1n3_w/w120-h200/Rocannon.jpg" width="120" /></a></div>1. <b>Rocannon's World</b> by <b>Ursula K. Le Guin</b> (Hainish Cycle #1 / 1966). My 12 + 4 challenge is to read all of the Le Guin books I've got on my book shelves.<p></p><p>"Other than some short stories, Rocannon's World was Ursula K. Le Guin's first novel and the beginning of a prolific, excellent career. It is also the 1st novel in Le Guin's Hainish Sci Fi series. The story is a bit rough and ready but still an excellent read.</p><p>The planet Fomalhaut II was made a part of the League of All Worlds many years ago. The Starlords had landed, exacted tribute from the 3 races on the planet, did a bit of a survey and then basically left it on its own. A scientific team lead by Rocannon, beginning a more detailed exploration is attacked by an unknown alien force and only Rocannon survives. </p><p>Wanting to avenge his teammates and also the races on Fomalhaut II, who have been attacked and enslaved by the aliens, Rocannon takes a small group of people and voyages into unknown territory to find the enemy and somehow defeat them.</p><p>That's the story at its simplest. It's also about friendship, loss and discovery. It's not the best of Le Guin's books that I've enjoyed but it's still well - crafted and well - paced. The relationships in this relatively short story still have an emotional impact when there are losses and the friendship does affect you. It's a nice introduction to Le Guin's work. (3.5 stars)"</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlyknsl9Y6Vk6ztowOCyeppVBNPrataGEHJ1AauOWQjQpayd5Uv-oYgS3lBJCWJgJrV_chmgYPLy1vNJSrcd-8F-FyFLvCpOGroO49VQp1SiwIf5rLCZ35nBRRXMBhDwPNJSBjA2iXRTN92BoU-qSFPVgeeBJqiK6GC3Wrshuv9cDgFfOzAeaivjandGg/s187/Big%20Four.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="187" data-original-width="114" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlyknsl9Y6Vk6ztowOCyeppVBNPrataGEHJ1AauOWQjQpayd5Uv-oYgS3lBJCWJgJrV_chmgYPLy1vNJSrcd-8F-FyFLvCpOGroO49VQp1SiwIf5rLCZ35nBRRXMBhDwPNJSBjA2iXRTN92BoU-qSFPVgeeBJqiK6GC3Wrshuv9cDgFfOzAeaivjandGg/w122-h200/Big%20Four.jpg" width="122" /></a></div>2. <b>The Big Four</b> by <b>Agatha Christie</b> (Hercule Poirot #5 / 1927). My January Focus author is Agatha Christie. Hoping to read 2 or 3 at least.<p></p><p>"The Big Four is the 5th Hercule Poirot story by Agatha Christie. This story finds the famed Belgian detective and his friend and companion, Capt. Hastings in a battle of wits and wills against an international organization, The Big Four, that wants so sow discord around the world. </p><p>As the two investigate, they slowly discover that the Big Four are 4 individuals; the brain is a Chinese mandarin, the money is an American billionaire, the technical know - how comes from a female French scientist and the brawn is a master of disguise, a British gentleman.</p><p>At every turn, Poirot and Hastings run against roadblocks. They come close and then the subject escapes their clutches. There are threats to their lives, to the lives of loved ones, e.g. Hastings' wife in Argentina. But they seem to be coming closer at each turn until very drastic measures are required for the final confrontation.</p><p>It's not my favorite Christie story but it shows a slightly different side of Poirot, a more active one in some cases. And who knew he had a brother. Still enjoyable and an interesting ending. (3.0 stars)"</p><p><b>Currently Reading</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXrHPX7CCNKNZzv2cCNaxBMLmIvXuCNsor9jRhqVsO_-BYg4LLF40Q1WpY6_sjn7Jlrh-HMziAJYHD6BC77KhYMgkTA3nZtwr0eviqOpu8R9aR8FGXtrzi99Q5Va5xlB1MPRmah8zDMLNlOoUEXRl5EdmLGWFh4Cvq48UYt-s0Svtvqt0jOD3bZ-xGfKU/s475/Tehanu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="316" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXrHPX7CCNKNZzv2cCNaxBMLmIvXuCNsor9jRhqVsO_-BYg4LLF40Q1WpY6_sjn7Jlrh-HMziAJYHD6BC77KhYMgkTA3nZtwr0eviqOpu8R9aR8FGXtrzi99Q5Va5xlB1MPRmah8zDMLNlOoUEXRl5EdmLGWFh4Cvq48UYt-s0Svtvqt0jOD3bZ-xGfKU/w133-h200/Tehanu.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>1. <b>Tehanu</b> by <b>Ursula K. Le Guin</b> (Earthsea Cycle #4 / 1990). Switching from the Hainish cycle to her Earthsea fantasy series.<p></p><p>"<span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In this fourth novel in the Earthsea series, we rejoin the young priestess the Tenar and powerful wizard Ged. Years before, they had helped each other at a time of darkness and danger. Together, they shared an adventure like no other. Tenar has since embraced the simple pleasures of an ordinary life, while Ged mourns the powers lost to him through no choice of his own.</span></span></p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now the two must join forces again and help another in need the physically, emotionally scarred child whose own destiny has yet to be revealed."</span></span><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYuvsYLdyJyWJnZu-ZrCWl7CaOSuWTg9_dYg-5QKAR8kZqjtEj_N_kJA3IDPZjViiByJSNSPpGHNyf1PNWg4pJRJOXmBsqcRWpj0-pyUX9JNO8cgurlCXk_fDafliaGI2sMbQBXurxh8mTbI-wLeIQG-HAUO_D817O5JRncT11mG-QkTtRqxACy1oSG2Q/s475/Do%20it%20With%20Mirrors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="316" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYuvsYLdyJyWJnZu-ZrCWl7CaOSuWTg9_dYg-5QKAR8kZqjtEj_N_kJA3IDPZjViiByJSNSPpGHNyf1PNWg4pJRJOXmBsqcRWpj0-pyUX9JNO8cgurlCXk_fDafliaGI2sMbQBXurxh8mTbI-wLeIQG-HAUO_D817O5JRncT11mG-QkTtRqxACy1oSG2Q/w133-h200/Do%20it%20With%20Mirrors.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>2. <b>They Do It With Mirrors</b> by <b>Agatha Christie</b> (Miss Marple #6 / 1943). Jo and I have enjoyed many of the Miss Marple TV adaptations. This one doesn't sound familiar.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Miss Marple senses danger when she visits a friend living in Stoneygates, a rehabilitation center for delinquents. Her fears are confirmed when someone shoots at the administrator. Although he is not injured, a mysterious visitor is less fortunate; shot dead simultaneously in another part of the building.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pure coincidence? Miss Marple thinks not, and must use all her cunning to solve the riddle of the stranger's visit … and his murder."</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>New Books</b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgly69V5RcNgJD8j-GdGcllD59dwr8_rFwHtIs4RhckbT8Ci_fS2TEVylltUGsxRURlsLJYqTRq6a8zTLmzFy4oHBvGy6ooZBo7sOxl56lyYrAYSeOcSIioJ4X-DdZ0tVuCtdRobj6NzOruMAm7bcNXGVG9fSJpRYdqbfq7vZ_WiX2oOizu1TPfyN8-fbc/s400/Big%20Sky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="258" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgly69V5RcNgJD8j-GdGcllD59dwr8_rFwHtIs4RhckbT8Ci_fS2TEVylltUGsxRURlsLJYqTRq6a8zTLmzFy4oHBvGy6ooZBo7sOxl56lyYrAYSeOcSIioJ4X-DdZ0tVuCtdRobj6NzOruMAm7bcNXGVG9fSJpRYdqbfq7vZ_WiX2oOizu1TPfyN8-fbc/w129-h200/Big%20Sky.jpg" width="129" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">1. <b>Big Sky </b>by <b>Kate Atkinson</b> (Jackson Brodie #5 / 2019). Definitely one of my favorite authors.</span><p></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jackson Brodie has relocated to a quiet seaside village, in the occasional company of his recalcitrant teenage son and an aging Labrador, both at the discretion of his ex-partner Julia. It's picturesque, but there's something darker lurking behind the scenes.</span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Jackson's current job, gathering proof of an unfaithful husband for his suspicious wife, is fairly standard-issue, but a chance encounter with a desperate man on a crumbling cliff leads him into a sinister network -- and back across the path of his old friend Reggie. Old secrets and new lies intersect in this breathtaking novel by one of the most dazzling and surprising writers at work today."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><b>Women Authors Whose Work I've Been Enjoying - Maggie Stiefvater</b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj35R1MpCsQqMB62fWmHKU-S5tlghEvIwKxSbjDfuS83r8luLvIy1toUmGQX10OiOHX0-NJ9yeh0ujNmD6qRMIUuY6ZLmUJn7o9LgN12X5qbj_q42aJBDtzk9hAfh-TagK5oqFjx-LT52T70NHSI2Xit1y1OyR_j2nVHg2SIswYv9titBKLxzeVXLGQ_-0/s140/Maggie%20stiefvater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="140" data-original-width="140" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj35R1MpCsQqMB62fWmHKU-S5tlghEvIwKxSbjDfuS83r8luLvIy1toUmGQX10OiOHX0-NJ9yeh0ujNmD6qRMIUuY6ZLmUJn7o9LgN12X5qbj_q42aJBDtzk9hAfh-TagK5oqFjx-LT52T70NHSI2Xit1y1OyR_j2nVHg2SIswYv9titBKLxzeVXLGQ_-0/s1600/Maggie%20stiefvater.jpg" width="140" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Maggie Stiefvater</b></td></tr></tbody></table>Maggie Stiefvater was born in Virginia in 1981 and is a writer of Young Adult fantasy and fiction. I read The Scorpio Races back in 2016 and was so impressed with it. It was around the time I had started other YA Fantasy series and this stood out for me. Now this is the only one of her stories I've read so far but in the last couple of years I've purchased some others of her books and I look forward to trying them. I'll highlight The Scorpio Races and the 3 books I have on my book shelf.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxYxBLkUSQrZG_4ylJN9-8So748jurgNwaaNULgfuoEzH8BUlAFSwrFTMiWJrfoqiES86_aOlDTINCB_hnUrQF2iVFpO8dsQfVThmL6o8_epRbrcPfR6bo2W76Qg2wZixCu1xlMmD55YVFhMKR0mfgzQwuGe5gDK_m9FJyhPvVcs-dXyle8B4DFLzsY24/s475/scorpio%20races.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="311" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxYxBLkUSQrZG_4ylJN9-8So748jurgNwaaNULgfuoEzH8BUlAFSwrFTMiWJrfoqiES86_aOlDTINCB_hnUrQF2iVFpO8dsQfVThmL6o8_epRbrcPfR6bo2W76Qg2wZixCu1xlMmD55YVFhMKR0mfgzQwuGe5gDK_m9FJyhPvVcs-dXyle8B4DFLzsY24/w131-h200/scorpio%20races.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>1. <b>The Scorpio Races</b> (2011).</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="color: #1e1915;">This was such an excellent story, well-written, a page turner, thoughtful and even emotional. It's a YA fantasy, so I was thinking it was more of The Hunger Games, but it was quite different in some ways. </span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Each year on an island off America, Thisby, the Scorpio Races take place. The difference between a normal horse race and the Scorpio races is that the horses used come from the sea, and they are meat eaters. They wash ashore during storms and some are captured and kept on land. In November, the races take place. People and horses will die. </span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Sean Kendricks, a young man who works for the wealthiest landowner on the island, has won 4 of the last 6 races, on a horse named Corr. He competes with the landowner's son and others; there is ill-feeling between him and Mutt Malvern, partly because Mutt's father seems to prefer Sean. </span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Kate (Puck) Connolly needs to enter this year's race, to try and keep her family together and to keep her family home. However, there has never been a girl in the Scorpio Races before and Kate will be riding her land horse, Dove, not a water horse. </span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">This is the premise of this fantastic story. The book is peopled with wonderful characters, Kate and her brothers, Sean, George Holly (the horse trader from the mainland), Peg Gratton, Dory Maud and her sisters and the story draws you in more and more until you can't put the book down. I want to go the bakery on the island and have November Cakes, they sound delicious. Excellent book and I have to give it (5 stars)."</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx8lHoR5yAcolaahqdRVnn9XiHuBB1R-xd_Q4W6qYDKXxivjNwdrINXRNQ6vhUTiSiAY3JUtyPsuoGn_70sHbUc7dOy_meQmI_qa_rM2G-pvK9PJPK_jL-wxgxk-47AEePjnRh45Qgdlw1wr3a63IWKak3WHS6kxA1gNQYEi-JYP2yhOdyAH6agTTrmUQ/s475/Sinner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx8lHoR5yAcolaahqdRVnn9XiHuBB1R-xd_Q4W6qYDKXxivjNwdrINXRNQ6vhUTiSiAY3JUtyPsuoGn_70sHbUc7dOy_meQmI_qa_rM2G-pvK9PJPK_jL-wxgxk-47AEePjnRh45Qgdlw1wr3a63IWKak3WHS6kxA1gNQYEi-JYP2yhOdyAH6agTTrmUQ/w133-h200/Sinner.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>2. <b>Sinner</b> (The Wolves of Mercy Falls 3.5 / 2014).</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sinner follows Cole St. Clair, a pivotal character from the #1 New York Times bestselling Shiver Series. Cole St. Clair has come to California for one reason, to get Isabel Culpeper back. She fled from his damaged, drained life, and damaged and drained it even more. He doesn't just want her. He needs her. Isabel is trying to build herself a life in Los Angeles. It's not really working. She can play the game as well as all the other fakes. But what's the point? What is there to win? Cole and Isabel share a past that never seemed to have a future. They have the power to love each other and the power to tear each other apart. The only thing for certain is that they cannot let go."</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEKMtPo7Q9tyapHZkwChg0OJj41basGbVKyxSPc3h7pPozmX0M_32JWw_sPKtBAbV-c8VbyiaQ0Vn2RyawVTI94pceJdCTqqXLjMy011uTuax18EjjolwhTG0i3M95eWXTiVg350z34Te4WHbetP9l6QvA8JWilx3DVN4qvAbEHW_OkR8rxmbHY9sOwWs/s2266/Call%20Down%20Hawk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2266" data-original-width="1500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEKMtPo7Q9tyapHZkwChg0OJj41basGbVKyxSPc3h7pPozmX0M_32JWw_sPKtBAbV-c8VbyiaQ0Vn2RyawVTI94pceJdCTqqXLjMy011uTuax18EjjolwhTG0i3M95eWXTiVg350z34Te4WHbetP9l6QvA8JWilx3DVN4qvAbEHW_OkR8rxmbHY9sOwWs/w133-h200/Call%20Down%20Hawk.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>3. <b>Call Down the Hawk </b>(Dreamer Trilogy #1 / 2019).</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"</span></span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The dreamers walk among us . . . and so do the dreamed. Those who dream cannot stop dreaming – they can only try to control it. Those who are dreamed cannot have their own lives – they will sleep forever if their dreamers die.</span></i></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;" />And then there are those who are drawn to the dreamers. To use them. To trap them. To kill them before their dreams destroy us all.</i><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Ronan Lynch is a dreamer. He can pull both curiosities and catastrophes out of his dreams and into his compromised reality.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Jordan Hennessy is a thief. The closer she comes to the dream object she is after, the more inextricably she becomes tied to it.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Carmen Farooq-Lane is a hunter. Her brother was a dreamer . . . and a killer. She has seen what dreaming can do to a person. And she has seen the damage that dreamers can do. But that is nothing compared to the destruction that is about to be unleashed. . . ."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHh1ZwJKZlBoZ3gRMaaQkZTTtg23SCpJGVAKgoM7-MHV6bQddWyJTpazclirh6agn01keF4cULdfg4k1m5hWRnxSnK9kvhONvVyI41JZWN1iXG7lmfZsKoOa-NB8faXxaGhWcMZw-GkTOTF-bR0Gt0GAnVzXJiQZuFvj9lzjma6ctXBOF4ER8a0usm2C4/s1024/Mister%20Impossible.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="678" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHh1ZwJKZlBoZ3gRMaaQkZTTtg23SCpJGVAKgoM7-MHV6bQddWyJTpazclirh6agn01keF4cULdfg4k1m5hWRnxSnK9kvhONvVyI41JZWN1iXG7lmfZsKoOa-NB8faXxaGhWcMZw-GkTOTF-bR0Gt0GAnVzXJiQZuFvj9lzjma6ctXBOF4ER8a0usm2C4/w133-h200/Mister%20Impossible.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>4. <b>Mister Impossible</b> (Dreamer Trilogy #2 / 2021).</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Something is happening to the source of the dreamers' power. It is blocked. Diminished. Weak. If it goes away entirely, what will happen to the dreamers and those who depend on them?</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Ronan Lynch isn't planning to wait and find out. Backed by his mentor, Bryde, he is ready to do what needs to be done to save the dreamers and the dreamed . . . even if it takes him far from his family and the boy he loves.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Jordan Hennessy knows she will not survive if the dreaming fails. So she plunges into a dark underworld in order to find an object that may sustain her.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Carmen Farooq-Lane is afraid of the dreamers -- which is why she's agreed to hunt them down. The closer she gets, though, the more complicated her feelings become. Will the dreamers destroy the world . . . or will the world be destroyed trying to eliminate the dreamers?"</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">So there you go. Do any of the above pique your interest? You can see all of Maggie Stiefvater's books at this <b><a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/s/maggie-stiefvater/">link</a></b>.</span></span></div>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-65408151665815665962024-01-11T12:45:00.000-08:002024-01-11T12:45:44.565-08:00For Janice - Books Part 10<p>It's a beautiful, sunny day today but it's going to be our coldest of the winter. Chilly for us west coasters anyway. Down to -11℃ later on according to the weather network. A cool weekend and then it gets back to a bit warmer and wetter. <i>This weather forecast provided courtesy of a look outside my den window and a walk with the dogs. </i></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJ_WFl0p4VQIJY5lQ5xhcBzg4E9OUzRg9z7BTQ4SPR41rcHQ_cXkb9bBM3g0bfQ-FCmsdFUXFqzeBaH-v-RKcNK8c37PnP6A2Uiwt6j8wXG5sckivsN65R3Ymkpz5GXKNjB4WqVj1IRB3U5wRmlFnjjv3Nvda40YnLwzoH-4mNW1DeNUYnpQxlSJ9V-Q/s1758/1.%20before%20we%20moved%20in.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1170" data-original-width="1758" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJ_WFl0p4VQIJY5lQ5xhcBzg4E9OUzRg9z7BTQ4SPR41rcHQ_cXkb9bBM3g0bfQ-FCmsdFUXFqzeBaH-v-RKcNK8c37PnP6A2Uiwt6j8wXG5sckivsN65R3Ymkpz5GXKNjB4WqVj1IRB3U5wRmlFnjjv3Nvda40YnLwzoH-4mNW1DeNUYnpQxlSJ9V-Q/s320/1.%20before%20we%20moved%20in.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>What it looked like before we moved in</b></td></tr></tbody></table>I've completed two more books this past week and will do another update in my next post. For today, I'll continue looking at books and book shelves. Moving into the Family room today. It is one of the first rooms we worked on after we moved in. </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6puHI6uoXsbTrrvkRs0M-YDPT_Zfwp3Ku7TEydImPUOMm4hClBmei2ajXHNbC0DIHda_ywQLVErAlPt6y63tSLAfMBNcBTwuuSQa6uf_Sh9fZbZVcMlKCptyL5Shj-nDsTSTJEXZDvktCmsSoxWuHvd2bJ27_yZybaJKtj_qGoIvHHYXjmU7kaluNHbg/s3648/new%20family%20room%20thursday%20003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6puHI6uoXsbTrrvkRs0M-YDPT_Zfwp3Ku7TEydImPUOMm4hClBmei2ajXHNbC0DIHda_ywQLVErAlPt6y63tSLAfMBNcBTwuuSQa6uf_Sh9fZbZVcMlKCptyL5Shj-nDsTSTJEXZDvktCmsSoxWuHvd2bJ27_yZybaJKtj_qGoIvHHYXjmU7kaluNHbg/s320/new%20family%20room%20thursday%20003.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Roughly what it looks like now.</b></td></tr></tbody></table>The pellet stove and the plinth were removed and we had a gas fireplace installed and a chimney breast. New lighting and new carpeting. There is a new sofa now and more photos on the wall, but it's basically the same.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvDK4C_JPGZSG9NcH5edUzUWQMwgfaBrGBEfPdDEN6RxjddO6UI6EXQqiNMk_m2ami5gtBVRshhookfU0nfNjlpS__9eeGacPlu1HmDCEnfD8XtFlzBm-aOp-cn_JyOQnxSJAz_ZGCQNaT_gJ01oqrdYeAI9VyLKpqgtmPjjRZI-Q4QbHDBR8V4SnOIGg/s3648/new%20family%20room%20thursday%20005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="2736" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvDK4C_JPGZSG9NcH5edUzUWQMwgfaBrGBEfPdDEN6RxjddO6UI6EXQqiNMk_m2ami5gtBVRshhookfU0nfNjlpS__9eeGacPlu1HmDCEnfD8XtFlzBm-aOp-cn_JyOQnxSJAz_ZGCQNaT_gJ01oqrdYeAI9VyLKpqgtmPjjRZI-Q4QbHDBR8V4SnOIGg/s320/new%20family%20room%20thursday%20005.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Here be books.</b></td></tr></tbody></table>The TV is in the left hand cabinet as you look at it and the books are stored in the right hand cabinet. I'll start with. This is an older photo but it gives you an idea. I'll limit myself to the visible books today. The majority of the books here have been read.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGGdNvWwTNiwioNaTmW0KEgG1jVsF6XAo5tCciKUXW6MILXVxN3uL9Qd423Cn6qReGUe2K1U_eW7RZ3FHy2aRL-kDe3sBZYXW_zv8B4qQK9Sqjr_usfxcHboLqTmSMiUCf58RGrLPAnnN8w9hapA8qSYHw4Tp6x6hR7-unZIb2qq27-lDGF0eb1iBUDCo/s3648/middle%201a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1787" data-original-width="3648" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGGdNvWwTNiwioNaTmW0KEgG1jVsF6XAo5tCciKUXW6MILXVxN3uL9Qd423Cn6qReGUe2K1U_eW7RZ3FHy2aRL-kDe3sBZYXW_zv8B4qQK9Sqjr_usfxcHboLqTmSMiUCf58RGrLPAnnN8w9hapA8qSYHw4Tp6x6hR7-unZIb2qq27-lDGF0eb1iBUDCo/s320/middle%201a.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Mostly Jo's books</b></td></tr></tbody></table>1. <b>2nd bottom shelf, left side</b>. This is the group of books on the left side, closest to the fire place. You can see that there are more Jane Austen related books, Sanditon which became a TV series and the Jane Austen Book Club, which became a movie. I believe Lady Susan was a more recently discovered book by Austen. Jo does like an autobiography when she settles down to a book. I don't know who bought the Michael Caine book. You can see a couple of design books and The Small Back Room was one I quite enjoyed, about bomb defusers during WWII, a tense fiction story.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMpQcpn4iE0yzSh5utKlhnDKsq3X5mkRNWKLaqq2Gx_QrMdYijEeSdx_2QkUX31dB7HIUK0bOZcV3n2bx5PcYHDnB_xz4oqOHlfstTwdwwCkmiTsIzT4Em13UXWo5LGmCf7i20Kpl0ssc0S58r-gYxe4MkXLDmkLEfCI8PVTFxC58-QgJIuJtidB5ZAJ0/s3008/middle%201b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2002" data-original-width="3008" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMpQcpn4iE0yzSh5utKlhnDKsq3X5mkRNWKLaqq2Gx_QrMdYijEeSdx_2QkUX31dB7HIUK0bOZcV3n2bx5PcYHDnB_xz4oqOHlfstTwdwwCkmiTsIzT4Em13UXWo5LGmCf7i20Kpl0ssc0S58r-gYxe4MkXLDmkLEfCI8PVTFxC58-QgJIuJtidB5ZAJ0/s320/middle%201b.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Another mix</b></td></tr></tbody></table>2. <b>2nd bottom, middle</b>. Two more Austen related books, Austenland and Pride and Prescience. There is an autobiography by actor / writer Charles Grodin. Bill Bryson is a favorite of ours, he writes on such diverse topics. The Shakespeare book was interesting. I had Winnie the Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner at university and gave them to my daughter, I think. So when I saw this copy I added it to my collection. </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi81I8kMPSewnwYFOHluUN-LjeOSRgw1CLoXtqBiTyLxT4VxCpV0D_47F1Uk2m2T5sUvRdDELY6OFDf_XULOdU6f3ZMOomD5-s8pZAMoXk5ZaHvDJkkgvJsca-x4b1dhpH6LW_MUNQn4HmsDJn_IiSVOYCUUrXM-UCunGJtooqKDtEOOpIC9lzOefQgPt8/s3040/middle%201c.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2036" data-original-width="3040" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi81I8kMPSewnwYFOHluUN-LjeOSRgw1CLoXtqBiTyLxT4VxCpV0D_47F1Uk2m2T5sUvRdDELY6OFDf_XULOdU6f3ZMOomD5-s8pZAMoXk5ZaHvDJkkgvJsca-x4b1dhpH6LW_MUNQn4HmsDJn_IiSVOYCUUrXM-UCunGJtooqKDtEOOpIC9lzOefQgPt8/s320/middle%201c.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>All Jo's books</b></td></tr></tbody></table>3. <b>2nd bottom, right side</b>. On the left are a collection of design books and on the right are Enid Blyton's St. Clare's book series. Jo had a few still when she came here and over the years, I got the remainder as prezzies.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyLO6-wC4PnG-LZQCeW5Zsyn1TpP7DL-xRVYyzeDBTn1x3P6GvxJU-wk9rpNMNyJoOywu8nBHAm0EDyvovoDxh178kSKGzt3RI7iXq9zQhxRZQLnSelIy3IQcuxhJ_fptDkPo0jgdiKKTB5TukaQ7Vk25mMqz3nuAnOt7idGH3UxTJbVwDNQQ5k7N6Psc/s2655/bottom%201a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1733" data-original-width="2655" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyLO6-wC4PnG-LZQCeW5Zsyn1TpP7DL-xRVYyzeDBTn1x3P6GvxJU-wk9rpNMNyJoOywu8nBHAm0EDyvovoDxh178kSKGzt3RI7iXq9zQhxRZQLnSelIy3IQcuxhJ_fptDkPo0jgdiKKTB5TukaQ7Vk25mMqz3nuAnOt7idGH3UxTJbVwDNQQ5k7N6Psc/w320-h210/bottom%201a.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Some favorites</b></td></tr></tbody></table>4. <b>Bottom shelf, left side</b>. This shelf contains mostly books I've enjoyed over the years and have decided I'd like to keep them. The last book in Jo's design series. Some favorite books and authors of mine. From top to bottom - Margaret Millar was a Canadian mystery writer and I've enjoyed her work very much. The Soft Talkers was so good. Next book was turned into an excellent movie back in the 40s, starring Gene Tierney & Dana Andrews. It was based on the book Laura by Vera Caspary. Phyllis Gotlieb is an another Canadian, whose become one of my favorite Sci Fi authors (she is no longer with us but I do have a few of her books still to read). Sunburst was my first exposure. Nevil Shute is one of the great story tellers. Pied Piper is one of my favorites of his. I started reading John Wyndham back in high school. I've read The Day of the Triffids many times and enjoyed the movie and some of the TV mini series base on it. Zola's The Ladies' Paradise is a classic and was turned into a BBC series called The Paradise. Excellent series and a surprisingly enjoyable, interesting book.<br /></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuRv0tDDXr_GVHwJlhH51t_5OJwd63_hXDpHi_QeGmZpZXY2_wb_VSPTtGnL4RVU0kGIpwdUQF4nJuVsGH9GO89-FE_UTJ4rPhXdc7OICr9A5fpz8fDDcP7FT3MCK3hSlILqgD5pT8a1kvw3k11j9KMrVSYlWTTUbzoJZ58yWLiUmCwnjLw7MGchsReQU/s2160/bottom%201b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="2060" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuRv0tDDXr_GVHwJlhH51t_5OJwd63_hXDpHi_QeGmZpZXY2_wb_VSPTtGnL4RVU0kGIpwdUQF4nJuVsGH9GO89-FE_UTJ4rPhXdc7OICr9A5fpz8fDDcP7FT3MCK3hSlILqgD5pT8a1kvw3k11j9KMrVSYlWTTUbzoJZ58yWLiUmCwnjLw7MGchsReQU/s320/bottom%201b.JPG" width="305" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another mix</td></tr></tbody></table>5. <b>Bottom shelf, middle</b>. After Jo and I got together, I finally read one of Austen's books, that being Sense and Sensibility. It was alright. Shirley Jackson is known for her horror stories, The Lottery, The Haunting. The Bird's Nest was a psychological story about multiple personalities. Last Seen Wearing was an excellent police procedural by Hillary Waugh. You have another Nevil Shute story, this set in newly developing Australia. When I was a kid I remember watching the TV soap based on Peyton Place, in fact had a bit of a crush on Barbara Parkins. Jo and I watched the movie based on the book and then I read the book itself. Quite excellent. I discovered Holly Roth only in the past few years. I love her way of telling a spy story, along the lines of another favorite, Helen MacInnes.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSx0gFhCsvMaY5DvG7lak2YTApnPBKZRvdW2gTe2PjNTEXpKaBzoT6xkMSKYrg7-o0yaAOHKeXKtTSAX7PQ1mpBF32Sq9M1dXDxxquqdUoPPBky6nNUT138SSnUyxLK_yWNQ3aR4Tj2PvClXmmlmzOZvFEQ7aaPaLs7GZx_bYGExNF4LtSfrqxsHZhqMI/s2839/bottom%201c.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2248" data-original-width="2839" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSx0gFhCsvMaY5DvG7lak2YTApnPBKZRvdW2gTe2PjNTEXpKaBzoT6xkMSKYrg7-o0yaAOHKeXKtTSAX7PQ1mpBF32Sq9M1dXDxxquqdUoPPBky6nNUT138SSnUyxLK_yWNQ3aR4Tj2PvClXmmlmzOZvFEQ7aaPaLs7GZx_bYGExNF4LtSfrqxsHZhqMI/s320/bottom%201c.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>A few more favorites</b></td></tr></tbody></table>6. <b>Bottom shelf, right side</b>. Mostly mysteries and fiction. Jo and I found the British Birds books in a antique store and kind of liked it. What else is there. Well, there is another excellent mystery by Margaret Millar with a tense suspense set in California. The Lady Vanishes was turned into an excellent Hitchcock thriller set on a train. The World of Suzie Wong is another book that was turned into a movie and is a romance about an Englishman who falls in love with a prostitute in Hong Kong. Both the movie and story were excellent. A Dram of Poison was by a new author for me, Charlotte Armstrong, but was written in the 1950s. I like discovering new authors. I bought I Am Curious Yellow out of curiosity. I remember reading about the Swedish movie in a Time magazine article when I was a teen. I think it was talking about nudity in movies and plays at that time. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is one of my Top Ten books and gives me the same reaction as To Kill a Mockingbird. It runs the emotional gamut for me. The movie, starring Alan Arkin always affects me. Jo refuses to watch it anymore. Jean Potts is another of those mystery writers from the 50s. Death of a Stray is an excellent murder mystery. The Man with a Cane was also excellent. Two more books; Marnie by Winston Graham. Not my favorite Hitchcock movie but still excellent in both book and movie. And finally, my favorite Nevil Shute story, On the Beach, an anti-nuclear war story that really strikes home. I've read many times. Also a great movie.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7SnXJ12mWjLTg3nIl7VYO-qQ8Cf1MGCtTehrmomNQZQ3H-jWLwzg5M-3DAqswEglU4ih42qdTEEu_5bf4pitzxSxxV64gYSJnS0jMpfNRLIOUQ1H0_j4qnb9wJnR27QwAz_6tLUs07KCiSIW4H-Sp0LIRRIxU2Xbgcwgg8wVWNKCww2NxJjBnq-ZYl1I/s3369/bottom%20cabinet%20doors%20closed.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2221" data-original-width="3369" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7SnXJ12mWjLTg3nIl7VYO-qQ8Cf1MGCtTehrmomNQZQ3H-jWLwzg5M-3DAqswEglU4ih42qdTEEu_5bf4pitzxSxxV64gYSJnS0jMpfNRLIOUQ1H0_j4qnb9wJnR27QwAz_6tLUs07KCiSIW4H-Sp0LIRRIxU2Xbgcwgg8wVWNKCww2NxJjBnq-ZYl1I/s320/bottom%20cabinet%20doors%20closed.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>What's behind?</b></td></tr></tbody></table>So those are the visible book shelves in this cabinet.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs0LpaMuHqON7vQhItzaBnbTDEi5YqUBT7GFbLGXEg6SReljnjxUhCbBWCO5q_QbqdA4iMtqsiFScOptIfwoSF9eSfuxHpmegrRCm4EhmVWxG5h9b2bqk5YiIbcC8Tl450JOlREodCRqFuzre-uBiZiY8b_DGiugXEmijFi7n-CTuRd6GWPu9aWRGufz0/s3515/bottom%20cabinet%20doors%20open.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2458" data-original-width="3515" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs0LpaMuHqON7vQhItzaBnbTDEi5YqUBT7GFbLGXEg6SReljnjxUhCbBWCO5q_QbqdA4iMtqsiFScOptIfwoSF9eSfuxHpmegrRCm4EhmVWxG5h9b2bqk5YiIbcC8Tl450JOlREodCRqFuzre-uBiZiY8b_DGiugXEmijFi7n-CTuRd6GWPu9aWRGufz0/s320/bottom%20cabinet%20doors%20open.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">😎</td></tr></tbody></table>How about a teaser. See you next time.</p>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-85833168981042011782024-01-09T13:49:00.000-08:002024-01-09T13:49:59.205-08:00For Janice - Books Part 9<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT80e7XttXryuBAccoig5dNiodpDiD9yI9zzwf-3o-eMzFwTUZGDDjzeFiXg6Qt9OqEQapdXQRYE4Jm7BqKT2ZiyYQW1nWzDWXxnIXMSmKTMeKb6FuenNRIfX5uBJl4xsRfQP6J4aYoEXhI73AhqklesnImglVQ1nV4SGVkxPzs2brfUXlZrnHVzNY0Fk/s604/cold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="604" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT80e7XttXryuBAccoig5dNiodpDiD9yI9zzwf-3o-eMzFwTUZGDDjzeFiXg6Qt9OqEQapdXQRYE4Jm7BqKT2ZiyYQW1nWzDWXxnIXMSmKTMeKb6FuenNRIfX5uBJl4xsRfQP6J4aYoEXhI73AhqklesnImglVQ1nV4SGVkxPzs2brfUXlZrnHVzNY0Fk/s320/cold.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>I'm hoping not.</b></td></tr></tbody></table>The last two days have been a case of two weather systems. Yesterday it rained and blew all day. Oddly enough over in Courtenay they got snow and it seemed most of the rest of the island did too. Strange that all we got was rain, rain, rain..... Today, so far, it's relatively mild and calm and dryish. It seems that later in the week, the temperature is going to drop quite drastically for a few days. We haven't had that yet this winter.</p><p>I've completed my 2nd book of 2024 but will get to that in my next entry. Today, I will continue with my look at book shelves and books. I'll finish with the built-ins in the best lounge; the top middle and the right side.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2cc_y2lpAbSWp8qLBDc3wBZnlxdBLxqnwQGd2HFb6Z-y3TFwcHTN2raQT9alu6R30Bpg3bk0bf4ah0NIbnks4jrPYTnkNfmrwvOpeJ2yjoWF7fZF9fNW4Ar-oeKuKUy6v7khJYYAk9EXMittCTqMhtqiGFldpgV2stojkcszNP-N9FrDDHT1ORJSRro8/s3203/top%20middle%20sayers.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2019" data-original-width="3203" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2cc_y2lpAbSWp8qLBDc3wBZnlxdBLxqnwQGd2HFb6Z-y3TFwcHTN2raQT9alu6R30Bpg3bk0bf4ah0NIbnks4jrPYTnkNfmrwvOpeJ2yjoWF7fZF9fNW4Ar-oeKuKUy6v7khJYYAk9EXMittCTqMhtqiGFldpgV2stojkcszNP-N9FrDDHT1ORJSRro8/s320/top%20middle%20sayers.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Dorothy L. Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey)</b></td></tr></tbody></table>1. <b>Middle Top</b>. The top middle contains the Peter Wimsey books that I have yet to read. Dorothy Sayers was one of the 4 Queens of Crime in the Golden Age of Detective Fiction; Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham and Ngaio Marsh. In December, I'll be focusing on Sayers' work. It's been a few years since I tried one of this enjoyable series.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji8kIeQ0BXJONAMj-qtk2o3GRf9QcPs-zkizdAFgDIjcGCXxZpwx38EKYufd5xuS7GgoaFiiXHgOtb6u4oBYy0SR2JBT3NXHJKE5L8lk14kKxrXiAMuNY63qaoV7_pcCdvy5dquagPwPbuWAHm-pVZSMgZcirK6Ok4MN0-SN3OEXSp43hhiK7Z9vJyFDk/s3202/top%202nd%20right%20sharpe.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2475" data-original-width="3202" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji8kIeQ0BXJONAMj-qtk2o3GRf9QcPs-zkizdAFgDIjcGCXxZpwx38EKYufd5xuS7GgoaFiiXHgOtb6u4oBYy0SR2JBT3NXHJKE5L8lk14kKxrXiAMuNY63qaoV7_pcCdvy5dquagPwPbuWAHm-pVZSMgZcirK6Ok4MN0-SN3OEXSp43hhiK7Z9vJyFDk/s320/top%202nd%20right%20sharpe.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Sharpe books by Bernard Cornwell</b></td></tr></tbody></table>2. <b>Top Shelf, 2nd right</b>. I've been enjoying this series since I started it in 2011. I've read the first 14 books and enjoyed the TV series. Next in line will be Sharpe's Skirmish.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzVBRrGTHK48wgVVvfj5PGmiL_9ERz9nrPfVKjNjoqWMzDfx5UW0faJdaInd9SZGj1zVuiSt2hXIrTvtNXetRXUSdvTZ6_nQcNpF3m6PQgGvtovhCvESR_ahBRa_0dbR-MyJ5Bli891ilu-YPnvWyUizGWLDu96NNXdJZcE3qDIYI6h_XgnP878lyXMUQ/s2572/top%20rt%20Fu%20Manchu.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2572" data-original-width="1929" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzVBRrGTHK48wgVVvfj5PGmiL_9ERz9nrPfVKjNjoqWMzDfx5UW0faJdaInd9SZGj1zVuiSt2hXIrTvtNXetRXUSdvTZ6_nQcNpF3m6PQgGvtovhCvESR_ahBRa_0dbR-MyJ5Bli891ilu-YPnvWyUizGWLDu96NNXdJZcE3qDIYI6h_XgnP878lyXMUQ/s320/top%20rt%20Fu%20Manchu.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer</b></td></tr></tbody></table>3. <b>Top Shelf, right side</b>. I started reading the Fu Manchu fantasy / adventure series back in 2016 and have read 5 so far. It's an interesting series, written from 1913 - 1959 by Sax Rohmer. Next in line will be The Mask of Fu-Manchu</p><p>The next three shelves are mainly Jo's books.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmEK697IwRDV0AHdvbxLBHrxa5rgPtm-DTp8V19IHE88LAhJXWPQHTJkYV7bHcCSo6vg4XlLFzsuoEC0lvv1shKAs5eTyM4hyH3vyL67g3DEw9bQA6XuP7Yz77b3CPSy23UrGNHWSVmoqxQEKyztg30dSvu1Gs6-v8JIeDUVK7SoXejIhpDl2hzXrHzZk/s3434/rt%202nd%20top%20Kelly.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2045" data-original-width="3434" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmEK697IwRDV0AHdvbxLBHrxa5rgPtm-DTp8V19IHE88LAhJXWPQHTJkYV7bHcCSo6vg4XlLFzsuoEC0lvv1shKAs5eTyM4hyH3vyL67g3DEw9bQA6XuP7Yz77b3CPSy23UrGNHWSVmoqxQEKyztg30dSvu1Gs6-v8JIeDUVK7SoXejIhpDl2hzXrHzZk/s320/rt%202nd%20top%20Kelly.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Mostly Cathy Kelly</b></td></tr></tbody></table>4. <b>Right side, 2nd top</b>. The Cathy Kelly series has been one that Jo has enjoyed very much. There are a few other books, like Margaret Thatcher's biography, a collection of PD James short stories, Tess of the d'Urbervilles and a couple of others.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo6uBnooTKfO8EDA7rhti03okKtO64CiF20W0_ezWHuRaXECaDOTvCWDQsdQUblb0iTLlZRb76DeqDtCpCDTNva9GE9hUPzDeyIYmIxK9infxeInMJgJbCLXNDzY0pzq7zu1IvDlW4ulMaLXEkIOfHjePOSJndFxWOb3yWPTiVF3HWchnyVtkptT1USc4/s2713/rt%203rd%20top%20design%201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2659" data-original-width="2713" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo6uBnooTKfO8EDA7rhti03okKtO64CiF20W0_ezWHuRaXECaDOTvCWDQsdQUblb0iTLlZRb76DeqDtCpCDTNva9GE9hUPzDeyIYmIxK9infxeInMJgJbCLXNDzY0pzq7zu1IvDlW4ulMaLXEkIOfHjePOSJndFxWOb3yWPTiVF3HWchnyVtkptT1USc4/s320/rt%203rd%20top%20design%201.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Jo's Design books</b></td></tr></tbody></table>5. <b>Right side, 3rd top</b>. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I do like buying Jo books by favorite designers. I believe that most of these she brought with her from England but I think Thrifty Chic and Living with Books are from me.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHodw4GfIpOKIb1YTDAjmAt9V4AEmLxu300YeR8LqaIFRkg4troaY4wpK-JOiiZ_BIKDiapw7B3srH_j3AZTndljf1oJ46h8RPo1Z0ZjWkoE0LimgiszIj9DzHTT6Vj05Zz1YEKqpBz3Z9c_6pL-S-vJswAr-TSlROQNujuUMoOap8hC4uanefXT6Khvw/s2572/rt%204th%20top%20design%201a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2386" data-original-width="2572" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHodw4GfIpOKIb1YTDAjmAt9V4AEmLxu300YeR8LqaIFRkg4troaY4wpK-JOiiZ_BIKDiapw7B3srH_j3AZTndljf1oJ46h8RPo1Z0ZjWkoE0LimgiszIj9DzHTT6Vj05Zz1YEKqpBz3Z9c_6pL-S-vJswAr-TSlROQNujuUMoOap8hC4uanefXT6Khvw/s320/rt%204th%20top%20design%201a.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>More Design books</b></td></tr></tbody></table>6.<b> Right side, 4th top</b>. I do apologize for the last two photos as they turned out a bit dark. My fault. I bought Jo most of these design books. They do add to the look of our book shelves. </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitE_KIEfUxHEK7sYjY3BBDH34CQ1KTVDVTBXptymyUnTr6Cten8IB6UiltnRDLXiKCHLJUXUL5fanwbI4yANixww1k2dnPB3bO4aRimT-CocygKIkScs5YP2TkSBtl98G5m8ielyTItUIP_Hsn_Jr_GzwMTxqL-hChjF0OhYwtKglekvY9BACV6IiGYn4/s2609/rt%202nd%20bottom%20lt.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2198" data-original-width="2609" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitE_KIEfUxHEK7sYjY3BBDH34CQ1KTVDVTBXptymyUnTr6Cten8IB6UiltnRDLXiKCHLJUXUL5fanwbI4yANixww1k2dnPB3bO4aRimT-CocygKIkScs5YP2TkSBtl98G5m8ielyTItUIP_Hsn_Jr_GzwMTxqL-hChjF0OhYwtKglekvY9BACV6IiGYn4/s320/rt%202nd%20bottom%20lt.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>A mixture of hard covers</b></td></tr></tbody></table>7. <b>Right side, 2nd from bottom Part 1</b>. This contains a variety of hard cover books that Jo and I have found in our wandering around shops. There is a book on gardening, Robin Hood, Rosemary's Baby, Black Narcissus, etc.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXhosQ92QuU3KlGP7mhz0eZ-ZXYkVCinVcEWc0fDGKMWPQ28VzWsKknxYomjmDPJto6XKUUxKbD9Dy3BVGlfJzJCaCVB4qyE-Y-hrZHaPoLC9yzyskriX1jaq0mkxX9n0SS60MGJdl2GvbzfXfsCpYYh2PtscnOUKd5RRLvm7dATbfjN9hmd_80FLqfIE/s2305/rt%202nd%20bottom%20rt.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1965" data-original-width="2305" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXhosQ92QuU3KlGP7mhz0eZ-ZXYkVCinVcEWc0fDGKMWPQ28VzWsKknxYomjmDPJto6XKUUxKbD9Dy3BVGlfJzJCaCVB4qyE-Y-hrZHaPoLC9yzyskriX1jaq0mkxX9n0SS60MGJdl2GvbzfXfsCpYYh2PtscnOUKd5RRLvm7dATbfjN9hmd_80FLqfIE/s320/rt%202nd%20bottom%20rt.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>L. Frank Baum & others</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br />8. <b>Right side, 2nd from bottom Part 2</b>. I have begun reading and collecting L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz books. There are four in that selection of books. It's been fun reading them. As well some classics I'm looking forward to getting to.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCJGtlSm-0sH5BHfI2DwlrinLHDSIhsqbp19lcD8VWU7SVwKm79EtR8HRXl2Mh7Eez6Iyg7ael6tpGh5vxxx4E4_z9T5oIyevIiUQzxlVZDeXcs6F4Amt_q9SWVjKDYyphOMRkRChJe_dwkOWQElpHRA6L8gA0Y6e_ROkR0aUNuTErRG5L6lUZrO8Ards/s2486/rt%20bottom.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2486" data-original-width="2339" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCJGtlSm-0sH5BHfI2DwlrinLHDSIhsqbp19lcD8VWU7SVwKm79EtR8HRXl2Mh7Eez6Iyg7ael6tpGh5vxxx4E4_z9T5oIyevIiUQzxlVZDeXcs6F4Amt_q9SWVjKDYyphOMRkRChJe_dwkOWQElpHRA6L8gA0Y6e_ROkR0aUNuTErRG5L6lUZrO8Ards/s320/rt%20bottom.JPG" width="301" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Another mixture</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br />9. <b>Right side, bottom.</b> I bought quite a few of these books for the covers; Gulliver's Travels, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The book on the far left is an old (1933) Ordnance Survey map of London. There is another Oz book and others you can check out.</p><p>There you go, another room complete. The final entries will deal with the den and one book shelf in the family room. Lots of hidden books in those rooms. 😃</p><p>Enjoy the rest of your week. Stay safe.</p>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-82189079438857468552024-01-07T09:51:00.000-08:002024-01-07T09:51:50.024-08:00My First 2024 Reading Update<p>Here it is Sunday of an FA Cup weekend. Brighton has moved on to the 4th round with a victory over Stoke City on Saturday. Jo and I went out to lunch at the Black Fin yesterday as well. It was excellent we ate too much. Jo also beat me 3 - 2 out of 5 games of Sequence. As she did at Benino's the other day as well. She's off to a great start in 2024.</p><p>I've completed one book so far in 2024. It was my only carry over from 2023. I'll provide my review of it and also the synopses of the next book I started. I will try to limit myself to one book per challenge at a time. I'm making steady progress on all of my books so will hopefully be able to provide more reviews in the next few days. Today I'll also provide synopses of the new books that have arrived since Jan 1.</p><p><b>Just Finished</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbvFihqUmvifL8Ay3PzzVHuT3jyQ8fugDCldYdlra4F2IRWi0h_PGEEErLMoXNCuKYd-OWkjB-KDXKmSPZdGz0GJ0NKtfBbafXqBPDVsUOptHTz26RKuo4UHgNu9S6bkWl4KKBoOe8E_nrhzQ9ld8Bz4PDb6osfHNAp-lVUUe9ztCV05ECJrBS1RshTrA/s400/Doomsday%20Book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="245" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbvFihqUmvifL8Ay3PzzVHuT3jyQ8fugDCldYdlra4F2IRWi0h_PGEEErLMoXNCuKYd-OWkjB-KDXKmSPZdGz0GJ0NKtfBbafXqBPDVsUOptHTz26RKuo4UHgNu9S6bkWl4KKBoOe8E_nrhzQ9ld8Bz4PDb6osfHNAp-lVUUe9ztCV05ECJrBS1RshTrA/w123-h200/Doomsday%20Book.jpg" width="123" /></a></div>1. <b>Doomsday Book</b> by <b>Connie Willis</b> (Oxford Time Travel #1 / 1992).<p></p><p>"It's been a long haul but I finally completed Doomsday Book (Oxford Time Travel #1) by Connie Willis. There were times I wished that the story would move faster.. Get to the point! But there was a good deal of set up so that the 2nd half could take off like gangbusters and just grab hold of your attention.</p><p>The series is set in the future and is about Oxford University historians and their work traveling back in time to explore different times in history. This story is about Kivrin, a new member of the time traveling team who is set to go back to to 1325 to examine the build up to the Great Plague that hit later on. </p><p>There are complications. Her professor, Dunworthy, doesn't think that they should travel back that far and he tries to persuade both Kivrin and Prof Gilchrist against it. To no avail. He has one of his techs, Badri, examine the settings and prep but at some point Badri comes down with a virus and is taken to hospital. When Kivrin arrives in medieval England, she also is sick and spends the first week(s) struggling to get better and to find out where her drop took place. She needs to get back to the present!</p><p>Meanwhile, in the present, Oxford has been hit with a deadly virus that distracts from efforts to bring Kivrin back. Dunworthy is beside himself as he tries to find a tech who can examine the initial preparations and help bring her back. But it's the Xmas holidays and now Oxford is on lockdown, the whole area quarantined until they can find out the source of the virus and develop a vaccine.</p><p>That's the premise and the story wanders between Kivrin in medieval England, living with a royal family in exile from Bath and trying to help the local priest, Father Roche, care for everyone there.. because of course the Black Death is coming to town.</p><p>Back in Oxford, present day, Dunworthy is frantic. With the help of a young visitor, Colin (who was visiting his great aunt Mary, he works to get Kivrin back. Now, I'm simplifying this story. There is so much going on in both times and locations; romance, fear, politics, etc etc. </p><p>And there are some great characters. My personal favorite is young Colin who is a rascal, but innovative, filled with initiative, smart and a whirlwind. And how can you not love a boy who uses expressions like 'apocalyptic' and 'necrotic'. He's great. His aunt Mary, who tries to hold the hospital together as she works to solve the virus is wonderful, just the type of doctor you'd want to have. In the past there is Father Roche, who does everything to hold his community together and to help Kivrin as the Black Death gets really really serious. Oh and there is also William, one of Dunworthy's students, who has every nurse and young lady in the palm of his hands and is of great help when Dunworthy needs it most.</p><p>It's a slow build, sometimes frustratingly slow but ultimately, the story takes off and has you holding your breath. Some sadness, some happiness and just a great story. Now on to the next one. (4.5 stars)"</p><p><b>Currently Reading</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4gqyQyhdaVRXGuDiSYfux5cQwNargQgewBDujIAoz3u87PJBj2RfuPzm-l5aodwyIEYut76tOO8sb4_MGbTOjCMYdFu12i6S3m5zFbuXuOh6ZS9yP71nHq5jTPrpCCOIFLYevR10CgE5UiTzpR5XvZPJE-mUwPdqbZAnr3o_M3irIQKhqSlcQd0143-w/s358/Murder%20&%201st%20Lady.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="228" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4gqyQyhdaVRXGuDiSYfux5cQwNargQgewBDujIAoz3u87PJBj2RfuPzm-l5aodwyIEYut76tOO8sb4_MGbTOjCMYdFu12i6S3m5zFbuXuOh6ZS9yP71nHq5jTPrpCCOIFLYevR10CgE5UiTzpR5XvZPJE-mUwPdqbZAnr3o_M3irIQKhqSlcQd0143-w/w127-h200/Murder%20&%201st%20Lady.jpg" width="127" /></a></div>1. <b>Murder and the First Lady</b> by <b>Elliot Roosevelt</b> (Eleanor Roosevelt #1 / 1984). As you can see, a new series and author for me.<p></p><p>"<span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A young woman who is in Mrs. Roosevelt's employ is suspected in the murder of her boyfriend. Mrs. Roosevelt is certain that the young woman (Pamela) is innocent and with the help of a few officials, sets out to prove it. This is not an easy task, since the murdered boyfriend is the son of a Congressman who doesn't take too kindly to Mrs. Roosevelt's involvement, especially since her investigations reveal a few not-so-nice details about the young man's personal life and hobbies. The plot involves a jewel theft and false identities. You'll get to meet a few seedy characters from the gambling world. Mrs. Roosevelt mingles with these people in an effort to get information, and it's rather amusing. Overall, this is a fun, easy to read book with a good plot. I wouldn't call it intriguing or suspenseful, since the guilty party/parties are made sort of obvious. But it's fun nonetheless."</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>New Books</b></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Mostly books I had on order from last year and are starting to arrive.)</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6FuC8hK8m-kQUNaA7b_43ZDYx_M3tctWovQgoCwYd__IbRDbhVnQEas8T1UBquWNo-HxpIfF2eCQ6bFSzeNqS0K8R8NcK4tcrRwdgqAlUrlNCarKIcBm-XhA1fBrLM0NPew2kOfM6N_NaKKHMvzx2kDY3NfxCEezgEKAQv0LY_kUZALM3Cv8RSuLqdSw/s331/Copy%20Kat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="331" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6FuC8hK8m-kQUNaA7b_43ZDYx_M3tctWovQgoCwYd__IbRDbhVnQEas8T1UBquWNo-HxpIfF2eCQ6bFSzeNqS0K8R8NcK4tcrRwdgqAlUrlNCarKIcBm-XhA1fBrLM0NPew2kOfM6N_NaKKHMvzx2kDY3NfxCEezgEKAQv0LY_kUZALM3Cv8RSuLqdSw/w121-h200/Copy%20Kat.jpg" width="121" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">1. <b>Copy Kat</b> by <b>Karen Kijewski</b> (Kat Colorado #4 / 1990). I've enjoyed this series very much. Kat Colorado is a PI, much in the same vein as Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone. After writing 8 novels in the series, she stopped. I've been reading out of sequence but will now finish from earliest to latest.</span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She's a hard-boiled Sacramento P.I. with a soft spot for the unlucky, the unloved, and one special cop named Hank. Her name is Kat Colorado, and in her business curiosity can be more than an occupational hazard -- it can be murder. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">It's hard to tell where the truth ends and the lies begin when Kat is hired to look into the death of a young woman in a historic California gold-country resort town. The police have closed the books on Deidre Durkin's murder; it was a tragic robbery-homicide. But could a clever murderer have created the illusion of a parking-lot theft gone bad? Was Deidre's loving husband as perfect as he seemed? The more Kat finds out about the victim, the less she's convinced that Deidre was the woman she appeared to be. But then Kat, in her undercover role as a bartender, isn't the person she pretends to be, either. And as Kat discovers, in this little town, even life and death are an illusion."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbV5nKjLUN2a_5oNgcqSq7Z2-U99N87EpQrYKYI5ZyCFWY-6mD1P4uuksqVhYHmAxgCN9fbkhLRVuMgonWIjLNtCbZgTngT48UR1ozPKreBhXGvEKbPTW_jgq8w_J7Jmr-CbpNs7BvzKpmpOmhkKjQMKzQGRAwnaSmsVTlVLIdeeJDOjo09Fv2Cq78Im8/s500/Howards%20End%20on%20landing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="320" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbV5nKjLUN2a_5oNgcqSq7Z2-U99N87EpQrYKYI5ZyCFWY-6mD1P4uuksqVhYHmAxgCN9fbkhLRVuMgonWIjLNtCbZgTngT48UR1ozPKreBhXGvEKbPTW_jgq8w_J7Jmr-CbpNs7BvzKpmpOmhkKjQMKzQGRAwnaSmsVTlVLIdeeJDOjo09Fv2Cq78Im8/w128-h200/Howards%20End%20on%20landing.jpg" width="128" /></a></div>2. <b>Howard's End is on the Landing: A Year of Reading from Home</b> by <b>Susan Hill</b> (2009). I've enjoyed Hill's writing very much; The Woman in Black, her Simon Serrailler crime novels. This work of non-fiction sounded interesting. Reading about someone reading books. What could be better.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is a year of reading from home, by one of Britain's most distinguished authors. Early one autumn afternoon in pursuit of an elusive book on her shelves, Susan Hill encountered dozens of others that she had never read, or forgotten she owned, or wanted to read for a second time. The discovery inspired her to embark on a year-long voyage through her books, forsaking new purchases in order to get to know her own collection again. A book which is left on a shelf for a decade is a dead thing, but it is also a chrysalis, packed with the potential to burst into new life. Wandering through her house that day, Hill's eyes were opened to how much of that life was stored in her home, neglected for years. 'Howards End is on the Landing' charts the journey of one of the nation's most accomplished authors as she revisits the conversations, libraries and bookshelves of the past that have informed a lifetime of reading and writing."</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3McYQBi-ih8x5wqGyDhhe40HiQcGwtSn-e3jbHHKEzQsJ0scucbtxGmFPVhyPcwoUbvDLGmJX7qm0PqlsQEqmO8WxonaNJTmNCtnfgR7LqOnRj7WLQwGGhQe37DaA8Caf9dOqM-nibls0JJ966Y0OF9O8O6yXT4M-GVDsOOMKTqzGZbTafbHNoCLLQlI/s1280/Berserker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="830" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3McYQBi-ih8x5wqGyDhhe40HiQcGwtSn-e3jbHHKEzQsJ0scucbtxGmFPVhyPcwoUbvDLGmJX7qm0PqlsQEqmO8WxonaNJTmNCtnfgR7LqOnRj7WLQwGGhQe37DaA8Caf9dOqM-nibls0JJ966Y0OF9O8O6yXT4M-GVDsOOMKTqzGZbTafbHNoCLLQlI/w130-h200/Berserker.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>3. <b>Berserker!: An Autobiography</b> by <b>Adrian Edmondson</b> (2023).<br /><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Berserker [noun]: A Norse warrior frenzied in battle and held to be invulnerable; often off his tits on henbane and large quantities of alcohol; one who is out of control with anger or excitement.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Ade Edmondson smashed onto the comedy circuit in the 1980s, stormed The Comedy Store and, alongside Rik Mayall, brought anarchy to stage and screen in iconic shows such as </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915;">The Young Ones</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"> and </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915;">Bottom</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">. How did a child brought up in a strict Methodist household—and who spent his formative years incarcerated in repressive boarding schools end up joining the revolution? Well, he is part Norse. Could it be his 'berserker' heritage?</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">With wisdom, nostalgia and uniquely observed humour, Ade traces his journey through life and comedy: from playing the Angel Gabriel in four school productions and adolescent dreams of becoming a rock god, to revolutionizing the alternative scene with the Comic Strip Club, creating his outrageously violent characters, playing with The Who and even kissing Joni Mitchell along the way.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Brimming with nostalgia and set to a soundtrack of pop hits which transport the reader through time, </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915;">Berserker!</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"> is a memoir like no other."</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigBYWv32iM88QJERDlDDnYPiRfYuNA4PmvVk8y2KW_cEMC0kArZovVmIGqRZsv_pZaZtjKKnmqeo-xgnn3rbtLoQSiKZsE6zrgBZupFLFCrIWuDDnzN1cnaRqqg666WNPNuldO9pB5NYxERePV-0UVNdZvlUN4iOU9a2i9M2330Cd6RnZh4PKGM9br1i4/s1507/Heartstopper%20vol%205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1507" data-original-width="980" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigBYWv32iM88QJERDlDDnYPiRfYuNA4PmvVk8y2KW_cEMC0kArZovVmIGqRZsv_pZaZtjKKnmqeo-xgnn3rbtLoQSiKZsE6zrgBZupFLFCrIWuDDnzN1cnaRqqg666WNPNuldO9pB5NYxERePV-0UVNdZvlUN4iOU9a2i9M2330Cd6RnZh4PKGM9br1i4/w130-h200/Heartstopper%20vol%205.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>4. <b>Heartstopper Volume 5</b> by <b>Alice Oseman</b> (2023). After Volume 4, I decided I'd had enough of high school romance but then Vol 5 came out and a note at the back of this one says there will be one more final volume. Now that I've started it, I should finish. Right?</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. The bestselling LGBTQ+ graphic novel about life, love, and everything that happens in between: this is the fifth volume of the much-loved HEARTSTOPPER series.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Nick and Charlie are very much in love. They've finally said those three little words, and Charlie has almost persuaded his mum to let him sleep over at Nick's house ... But with Nick going off to university next year, is everything about to change?</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">By Alice Oseman, winner of the YA Book Prize, Heartstopper encompasses all the small moments of Nick and Charlie's lives that together make up something larger, which speaks to all of us.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Contains discussions around mental health and eating disorders, and sexual references."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><b>Women Authors Whose Work I've Been Enjoying - Taylor Stevens</b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVpwxDLw_4VScHiLazs5uAjtUW7Ou_4uAvXAak6Ha0MCMFwIREZJyCTL1Ud7sfW2Av8UcjPU2-HWswE9sCaYbd4Ymt7weVKkr4GvITQwo4mKwJOud1M4DDTw7O2VU803ptAxzdDzM2p9h4gTrHFe_jz2v_in4RXu0SCP0C3nLdPT9khXlvTuLyXwZUrN8/s150/Taylor%20Stevens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="150" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVpwxDLw_4VScHiLazs5uAjtUW7Ou_4uAvXAak6Ha0MCMFwIREZJyCTL1Ud7sfW2Av8UcjPU2-HWswE9sCaYbd4Ymt7weVKkr4GvITQwo4mKwJOud1M4DDTw7O2VU803ptAxzdDzM2p9h4gTrHFe_jz2v_in4RXu0SCP0C3nLdPT9khXlvTuLyXwZUrN8/w200-h160/Taylor%20Stevens.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Taylor Stevens</b></td></tr></tbody></table>I started this particular thread back in March 2021, focusing on the books of women authors who I particularly enjoyed reading. Today I'll look at thriller author, Taylor Stevens. Stevens is an American author. She was born in 1973 in New York State. Her family was in a cult and you can see threads of that in her Vanessa Munroe thriller series. Vanessa is an 'investigator' who gathers data for companies / people and sometimes finds people. She has the physical and mental skills to do it successfully. She's very secretive and emotionally controlled and is a fascinating character. I've enjoyed the first two books in the series (There are 5 so far and one novella). I'll provide my reviews of the two I've completed thus far plus the synopsis of #3, which currently resides on my bookshelf. Taylor Stevens also has a thread where she discusses writing, her personal life and issues and other thoughts if you're interested. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZMNoX0NTCRm9JuYI3J0f008g57c_D8zTueaKiMIReajnSvp90d60ESfs4_gtc8ejzQiNYJR0CDRRX0PRELx6pvIDYeDkoaZkIp0oOD1hx8i6soAU1g4xmMYS2qfM2b-yPM0Wka6lONnIYV3oAnf0nwOZNj8v_FZFBWlX7St572O1i036HgzoWiFakvWw/s3648/2050_1231Fripictures0022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZMNoX0NTCRm9JuYI3J0f008g57c_D8zTueaKiMIReajnSvp90d60ESfs4_gtc8ejzQiNYJR0CDRRX0PRELx6pvIDYeDkoaZkIp0oOD1hx8i6soAU1g4xmMYS2qfM2b-yPM0Wka6lONnIYV3oAnf0nwOZNj8v_FZFBWlX7St572O1i036HgzoWiFakvWw/w200-h150/2050_1231Fripictures0022.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>1. <b>The </b></span><span style="color: #1e1915;"><b>Informationist</b> </span><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;">(#1 /2011).</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: inherit;">"</span></span><span style="color: #1e1915;">The Informationist by Taylor Stevens is the first book in her thriller series featuring Vanessa Munroe. Vanessa is a combination Modesty Blaise and Lisbeth Salander, a strong, intelligent, independent woman. Vanessa is a contract for hire, she deals in information and is an expert at assimilating data. She is hired by companies to go to a country and provide them information necessary so they an determine if they should invest money and resources there.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Vanessa has a team back in the States who negotiate contracts for her, Kate, a powerful lawyer and Logan, her equipment guy. Vanessa who is sort of androgynous and often works under the name of Michael (I found this aspect especially interesting) has a dark past that she tries to keep under control. You will find out more about it as you progress in the story. (It's fascinating)</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Returning from Turkey, she is asked to work for Richard Burbank, a Texas oil billionaire, who wants Vanessa to find his long lost daughter. Vanessa is hesitant as this is not her normal line of work. Emily Burbank, a young woman, disappeared along with two friends 4 years ago in Africa. Burbank had searched for her unsuccessfully and while he suspects she is dead, he wants Vanessa to look for her. Persuaded against her better instincts (Vanessa has a past in Africa that she would rather not resurrect), Vanessa goes to Africa (after side trips to gather more info) and is accompanied by Burbank's, let's say another contractor. Bradford had recommended Vanessa and although she prefers to work alone, she is forced to let him come along.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">The story ultimately leads to Equatorial Guinea, between Gabon and Cameroon, a fascinating, sometimes terrifying place. There the story will ultimately lead to a dangerous, exciting climax. Vanessa will have to deal with past demons, her life will be constantly in danger and she will have to discover who she can trust. All the while trying to discover if Emily is alive and if so, where?</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">It's a unique, different type of thriller. Vanessa has many issues and has definite trust issues, but as you discover more about her, you will want to discover more. The story is excellent, with enough action and tension to satisfy any lover of thrillers. Is it far-fetched? Of course, but no more than any Jack Reacher story or any Lisbeth Salander story. That's the purpose of a thriller. Great first book an I'm looking forward to reading the 2nd. (4 stars)"</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLqURZJv9JlQu7QKpUYTwTyCxWyHHV_irp4aoctGK0Jk4oxLvXNDYvKHm45U9IGBMHMo0HwUn9WnL779rEcDILD_kwjtuIlQgOxhyphenhyphen92UckQmmRXatNLYlHnw876YuPdJw8cMr-kSqcZJ-nzGdTY0C5BRb2G3K7E-o6jOD690goC3el93m4-I8bZ287v9Y/s475/The%20Innocent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="307" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLqURZJv9JlQu7QKpUYTwTyCxWyHHV_irp4aoctGK0Jk4oxLvXNDYvKHm45U9IGBMHMo0HwUn9WnL779rEcDILD_kwjtuIlQgOxhyphenhyphen92UckQmmRXatNLYlHnw876YuPdJw8cMr-kSqcZJ-nzGdTY0C5BRb2G3K7E-o6jOD690goC3el93m4-I8bZ287v9Y/w129-h200/The%20Innocent.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>2. <b>The Innocent</b> (#2 / 2011).</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"The Innocent is the 2nd book in the Vanessa 'Michael' Munroe thriller series by Taylor Stevens. The story starts off in Morocco where Munroe has been living with lover, Noah, trying to deal with her inner struggles; nightmares where she relives acts of violence (making her a danger to others). She tries to solve the issue by drugging herself before going to sleep.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">Her business partner Miles Bradford and another friend, Logan, arrive with a proposition. Logan and friends need her help. Logan was raised in a cult, The Chosen. As a young man he left, along with others, but now they need to find a young girl, Hannah. Hannah is the daughter of Noah (although she believes her father to be another man) and Charity. Hannah was abducted by David from Charity and taken back to the Chosen. Logan and his friends have recently discovered that Hannah is at Haven hideouts located in Buenos Aires Argentina. They want to hire Munroe to go and get her back. With Miles and three of the ex-Chosen, Logan, Heidi and Gideon, heads to Buenos Aires to try and get Hannah back. This story is that effort; as Munroe battles her demons and at the same time tries to discover the whereabouts of the Haven hideaways and infiltrate to discover Hannah's location.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">It's an exciting book and provides an excellent portrait of Munroe, her inner struggles, her expertise with weapons, and her information-gathering skills. Miles brings along other skills and is an interesting character, faithful and dedicated to Munroe, worried about her issues and mental stability, but providing a core strength to her. The story is stark and grim but as it progresses, there is reason to hope; both for the success of the mission and for Munroe's mental health. I have #3 The Doll sitting on my bookshelf awaiting my attention. (3.5 stars)"</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3_2f11SyHB2FgHYcjfjSq6xGrpcTGNRH-BS8T-vWD-JAlZ0ydkd6ZBipfP6FVKCmlC-r5fBriXBHA3RsfnrGKhO17Ic7hnAIhTZGlDdVfHePizC3LQP0skKY6c_iMK6muuWaZMhFWgV16o72fD_ScfkaKbcCCHE52vVF0PcuFm-mkT3UNMzW23sK1W2A/s475/The%20Doll.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="313" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3_2f11SyHB2FgHYcjfjSq6xGrpcTGNRH-BS8T-vWD-JAlZ0ydkd6ZBipfP6FVKCmlC-r5fBriXBHA3RsfnrGKhO17Ic7hnAIhTZGlDdVfHePizC3LQP0skKY6c_iMK6muuWaZMhFWgV16o72fD_ScfkaKbcCCHE52vVF0PcuFm-mkT3UNMzW23sK1W2A/w132-h200/The%20Doll.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>3. <b>The Doll</b> (#3 / 2013)</span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Haunted by a life of violence and as proficient with languages as she is with knives, Vanessa Michael Munroe, chameleon and hunter, has built her life on a reputation for getting things done—dangerous and often not-quite-legal things. Born to missionary parents in lawless Africa, taken under the tutelage of gunrunners, and tortured by one of the jungle’s most brutal men, Munroe was forced to do whatever it took to stay alive.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">The ability to survive, fight, adapt, and blend has since taken her across the globe on behalf of corporations, heads of state, and the few private clients who can afford her unique brand of expertise, and these abilities have made her enemies.</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">On a busy Dallas street, Munroe is kidnapped by an unseen opponent and thrust into an underground world where women and girls are merchandise and a shadowy figure known as The Doll Maker controls her every move. While trusted friends race to unravel where she is and why she was taken, everything pivots on one simple choice: Munroe must use her unique set of skills to deliver a high-profile young woman into the same nightmare that she once endured, or condemn to torture and certain death the one person she loves above all else.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Driven by the violence that has made her what she is, cut off from help, and with attempts to escape predicted and prevented, Munroe will hunt for openings, for solutions, and a way to strike back at a man who holds all the cards. Because only one thing is certain: she cannot save everyone."</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">So there you go. Sound interesting? You can find Taylor Stevens complete list of book at this <b><a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/s/taylor-stevens/">link</a></b>. This is the link to her <b><a href="https://www.taylorstevensbooks.com/">webpage</a></b>. Have a great second week of 2024</span></span></div>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-774723552249315498.post-80077238741556266102024-01-05T16:13:00.000-08:002024-01-05T16:13:48.432-08:00For Janice - Books Part 8<p>On a rainy Friday, I continue to look at my bookshelves and the books contained on them. Today I'll stay in the lounge and look at the built-ins, the 2nd column of shelves from the left side.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9kfksH-3XKE7LmEC5FWCH3BXHu0MeGPvhZYY60kL_6GRBjRTVS6THfs8bWTdqfpJU3TGr2ZVTcPbt0IyYa73IF5cFflDN1EgVVxjgzvxW7nNtAP6kFPi8XfS2xL63o2eO5YG7rySWyxJHIeKDQWcUe04zVjDHZBVsufuyYZAg5purOPHr3UTLreuEJmo/s2484/builtin%202nd%20lt%20top.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2484" data-original-width="2455" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9kfksH-3XKE7LmEC5FWCH3BXHu0MeGPvhZYY60kL_6GRBjRTVS6THfs8bWTdqfpJU3TGr2ZVTcPbt0IyYa73IF5cFflDN1EgVVxjgzvxW7nNtAP6kFPi8XfS2xL63o2eO5YG7rySWyxJHIeKDQWcUe04zVjDHZBVsufuyYZAg5purOPHr3UTLreuEJmo/s320/builtin%202nd%20lt%20top.JPG" width="316" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Modesty Blaise</b></td></tr></tbody></table>1. <b>Top Shelf left. </b>I've been working through this spy / adventure / thriller series featuring a wonderful character, Modesty Blaise. They were written in the '60s / '70s by Peter O'Donnell. The series wanders around the world as Modesty gets involved in many cases, often working for British intelligence.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKqKZYAW2TAyafuRRF1SyauG8JrkmQhyYsDbBhGx7PxoAJSBMIhGO1yi4ghoz3wdKXzXZE8PtwgBQ7p9_2JTFClwwcGxzHQ3zinSjVhLgGpCWhtOdTiPc59NzYVShlwbTTh4mYZFoAQh56vbW1_6JMsnW_fv6nSBMUHBI9VCfn8BLgT9Ng9zGzjifvIKQ/s3527/builtin%202nd%20lt%20top%201b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2136" data-original-width="3527" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKqKZYAW2TAyafuRRF1SyauG8JrkmQhyYsDbBhGx7PxoAJSBMIhGO1yi4ghoz3wdKXzXZE8PtwgBQ7p9_2JTFClwwcGxzHQ3zinSjVhLgGpCWhtOdTiPc59NzYVShlwbTTh4mYZFoAQh56vbW1_6JMsnW_fv6nSBMUHBI9VCfn8BLgT9Ng9zGzjifvIKQ/s320/builtin%202nd%20lt%20top%201b.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Inspector Frost</b></td></tr></tbody></table>2. <b>Top Shelf right</b>. I bought the books because Jo and I had enjoyed the Inspector Frost series very much. Frost is your typical British police officer, cynical and crusty and enjoyable. R.D. Wingfield only wrote 6 books featuring Frost but they managed to produce 30+ TV episodes starring David Jason as Frost.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT1x3HwIFFlq7KtmXhGZ1peilL_MlrtC7oCxnFe2Nl6XIssK4Bc9pXFF0q1kzpMKvpuvqBE3xAklcKk_Y4i0PbL0QnSTP9r-o9UUV9PkCB-PpOOrc7UDYxbZIgq9Wq2R1btOWGyInqbEfq-7TJPcwL3yifS96y2Gj3_VrDR0oQNWZwtXumEPXUL6lqpC0/s2951/builtin%202nd%20lt%202nd%20top.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2338" data-original-width="2951" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT1x3HwIFFlq7KtmXhGZ1peilL_MlrtC7oCxnFe2Nl6XIssK4Bc9pXFF0q1kzpMKvpuvqBE3xAklcKk_Y4i0PbL0QnSTP9r-o9UUV9PkCB-PpOOrc7UDYxbZIgq9Wq2R1btOWGyInqbEfq-7TJPcwL3yifS96y2Gj3_VrDR0oQNWZwtXumEPXUL6lqpC0/s320/builtin%202nd%20lt%202nd%20top.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Children's stories</b></td></tr></tbody></table>3. <b>2nd from top</b>. Jo and I visited a neat little shopping area on our way back from Victoria one year. We saw this collection of books. They basically contain children's stories, fairy tales, poetry for children of each age, from 1 - 12. We bought them because of the colors and felt they would look nice on our shelves. We were correct. 👋</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAm7mLgJPaTw7QsJp22fIz9EtoYIVPC5StK9Kfuq9LoDVVtgk5oMXW3woaFgJAa3hUuQd6pHP6sVKHsThQ_qDAE8pgyKDyebx4OFi5SSJKg4vbBijnttPn2_ViIyp7a4N7G96B7P0X2Vxto1tK8SvS3huGVL96icx0hIUitl82v6ph-sHue4Pz-cdGlwc/s2879/builtin%202nd%20lt%20mid%201a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2371" data-original-width="2879" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAm7mLgJPaTw7QsJp22fIz9EtoYIVPC5StK9Kfuq9LoDVVtgk5oMXW3woaFgJAa3hUuQd6pHP6sVKHsThQ_qDAE8pgyKDyebx4OFi5SSJKg4vbBijnttPn2_ViIyp7a4N7G96B7P0X2Vxto1tK8SvS3huGVL96icx0hIUitl82v6ph-sHue4Pz-cdGlwc/s320/builtin%202nd%20lt%20mid%201a.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Do you notice a color scheme? 😀</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br />4. <b>Middle shelf left</b>. There are a variety of books here. Another collection of Jane Austen stories. I can't remember if I bought it or if Jo brought it with her from England. There are 4 books from a series; a non-fiction collection of Final Interviews of various people; Jacinda Ardern, Ursula K. LeGuin, Kurt Vonnegut and Lou Reed. The final books is a non-fiction book from Margaret Atwood - Payback. It's about the Nature of Debt and was a collection of essays she provided for University of Toronto's Massey Hall.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh91HRyvX9eb9Q96JTaxeK2DTLZ8jqiRN8hnnzlZ8TV7PqUNdk2FDNwN4wZpM4h8FGvHLcU7dK9EhMxyrsfWf6Hxc8by6mqmYKw3eucI08QL9J8_Y8KMsa9_UBYsltNbsfv07RYrnPhv3Gkyy8QorFs6H7jOZwxmoatPm5wDNEF4M56Ti5PG75qzcbT_U/s3229/builtin%202nd%20lt%20mid%201b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1748" data-original-width="3229" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh91HRyvX9eb9Q96JTaxeK2DTLZ8jqiRN8hnnzlZ8TV7PqUNdk2FDNwN4wZpM4h8FGvHLcU7dK9EhMxyrsfWf6Hxc8by6mqmYKw3eucI08QL9J8_Y8KMsa9_UBYsltNbsfv07RYrnPhv3Gkyy8QorFs6H7jOZwxmoatPm5wDNEF4M56Ti5PG75qzcbT_U/s320/builtin%202nd%20lt%20mid%201b.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Murderbots</b></td></tr></tbody></table>5. <b>Middle shelf right</b>. I've read the first two books in this Sci Fi series by Martha Wells. Looking forward to continuing it.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid14EJsEkORhmjG9-DMsxkhZPv2mF51ssaD2znR1o-xueUnfkog-uytbhPcBxEtNjc4DJqyIXGVUijQhf2KQHPMYVwO8nOQttXjEnwBOdDCVn0LUq_mfJVPha12MKPCq2C9g70PqdjTLblfxaUUM_1jheweEKge81hohFQCkHAJlkZYE0vMvw-6VXiUIo/s3387/builtin%202nd%20lt%203rd%20bot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3387" data-original-width="2537" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid14EJsEkORhmjG9-DMsxkhZPv2mF51ssaD2znR1o-xueUnfkog-uytbhPcBxEtNjc4DJqyIXGVUijQhf2KQHPMYVwO8nOQttXjEnwBOdDCVn0LUq_mfJVPha12MKPCq2C9g70PqdjTLblfxaUUM_1jheweEKge81hohFQCkHAJlkZYE0vMvw-6VXiUIo/s320/builtin%202nd%20lt%203rd%20bot.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Some classics</b></td></tr></tbody></table>6. <b>3rd from bottom</b>. I flipped these on their sides for you. I've purchased onlijne and at various antique stores. An early edition of Daniel Deronda by George Eliot. A collection of essays from Robert Louis Stevenson. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell and Prester John by John Buchan. They look nice together.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcXLH8xKmi0iEHldurQyeoq3_FpDvu_cG5kkBRgxDsYL800OXqz76E9oH5wPNoSLXLzr5V07cY7fz4Y2ryhRFpZBVU8fJ79-tI1P27fsWCnsF2oQ3-39uxXiFd0YF96NmilwN7YAZEvzYIptB3vzD3yEum_f9ms7dNurrzn3Rq_jFs_a5X4t5xw1LGWa0/s2626/builtin%202nd%20lt%202n%20bot%201a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2626" data-original-width="1303" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcXLH8xKmi0iEHldurQyeoq3_FpDvu_cG5kkBRgxDsYL800OXqz76E9oH5wPNoSLXLzr5V07cY7fz4Y2ryhRFpZBVU8fJ79-tI1P27fsWCnsF2oQ3-39uxXiFd0YF96NmilwN7YAZEvzYIptB3vzD3yEum_f9ms7dNurrzn3Rq_jFs_a5X4t5xw1LGWa0/s320/builtin%202nd%20lt%202n%20bot%201a.JPG" width="159" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Terence Conran</b></td></tr></tbody></table>7. <b>2nd bottom left side</b>. I bought these for Jo one Xmas. We have some of Shirley Conran's dishes. She is Terence Conran's daughter. Terence was a designer and this collection contains his ideas about the various rooms in the house. Neat book.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizxwVVA3gyJIhQq-GjjUbrO4uT8DcmBE5WnLdr8AlNejTtw88w4pEDOyPJuNlfUjRjuOPy2cHQLWVPSAC0mHdC6lk77hp6MIPSs9Bc3qOHGdXhzf4LP0_7ke07LV2wcvgFfKr2DFM55S21_3ElJTs9_zNogG5meLnSAYN9B8dLE8X5fg-KDO_V9ccZFKg/s3139/builtin%202nd%20lt%202nd%20bot%201a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3139" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizxwVVA3gyJIhQq-GjjUbrO4uT8DcmBE5WnLdr8AlNejTtw88w4pEDOyPJuNlfUjRjuOPy2cHQLWVPSAC0mHdC6lk77hp6MIPSs9Bc3qOHGdXhzf4LP0_7ke07LV2wcvgFfKr2DFM55S21_3ElJTs9_zNogG5meLnSAYN9B8dLE8X5fg-KDO_V9ccZFKg/s320/builtin%202nd%20lt%202nd%20bot%201a.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>A mixture of books</b></td></tr></tbody></table>8. <b>2nd bottom right side</b>. 4 non-fiction books and one fiction, Nevil Shute's the Chequer Board. There is Joan Didion's Blue Nights, which deals with the death of her daughter. There is Bill Bryson's At Home, where Bryson goes through the rooms of his house in Norfolk and goes into the history of Norfolk, houses, rooms, etc. I believe it's a signed edition that we bought in Ely, England. There is a collection of correspondence by Jean Rhys, author of Wide Sargasso Sea. And finally, an autobiography of Michael Caine.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfsj93VBwe-5sa1IXOweru51tgoPgTqs2cYR1yBRBWdRwYlolEZ-536pnCHjNqGPwi6LoYqInRJQrwdNBhX1FzvkHSr2GX7ua2lWRnIOfljg6WWO3k2wql8Lvk7a74uUw6G-qiIO0E6E9kO0gx29s20U3oa7FUNz4Q6KqZLNzu-BBCGHKSJSheonzPJRc/s2736/builtin%202nd%20lt%20bottom.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="2573" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfsj93VBwe-5sa1IXOweru51tgoPgTqs2cYR1yBRBWdRwYlolEZ-536pnCHjNqGPwi6LoYqInRJQrwdNBhX1FzvkHSr2GX7ua2lWRnIOfljg6WWO3k2wql8Lvk7a74uUw6G-qiIO0E6E9kO0gx29s20U3oa7FUNz4Q6KqZLNzu-BBCGHKSJSheonzPJRc/s320/builtin%202nd%20lt%20bottom.JPG" width="301" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>A mishmash</b></td></tr></tbody></table>9. <b>Bottom Shelf</b>. On the left is a collection of articles from Punch magazine that we bought at an antique store. there is the medical guide that my parents had for years and they gave to me. And finally a special collection of the tales of Beatrix Potter that I believe I bought at our local Auxiliary Thrift shop.</p><p>See any ideas? Have a great weekend.</p>Billhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06143287129720844051noreply@blogger.com2