Top Ten Favourite Books - Number 8 (Big Brother is Watching)

When I first started thinking about doing a Blog on books, I made up a Top Ten list so that I'd at least have something to write about when I couldn't think about anything else. Well, as time has gone by, the list has undergone some slight revisions. I had originally listed The Princess Bride, by William Goldman in this spot. However, the more I thought about it, I really didn't have much to say. It's one of those books that I did enjoy tremendously, but when I thought about it, it's the movie I preferred. I didn't actually read the book until I'd watched the movie a few times.

The other day when I went to the Rotary Club Book Sale, I found a copy of a book that had disappeared from my collection a few years ago, probably quite a few in fact. Needless to say, I was thrilled to find an edition in such excellent condition of Nineteen Eighty - Four, by George Orwell. It was finding this book that made me revisit my Top Ten List.

Firstly, it is an iconic work of Science Fiction, that has impacted not only countless readers, but I think has affected many other authors with its theme of the little man battling against Big Brother/ or government. Besides that, once I had it in my grubby paws, it brought back such fond memories. I've read it two or three times in the past years and have enjoyed totally each and every time.

The book has been the subject of BBC programs, two excellent movies, the first in 1956, starring Edmund O'Brien in the role of Winston Smith, the little man and the timely 1984 version, with John Hurt as Winston and Richard Burton in his last film role before his death, in.. yes, you guessed it 1984.

For those who may not have read the book or seen any of the film adaptations, here is the basic premise, as taken from the jacket of the pictured book. This Penguin version, for your information, was first published in 1954 (the book was written in 1949), with this edition printed in 1964. Anyway, back to the summary...

"1984 is the year in which it happens. The world is divided into three great powers, Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia, each perpetually at war with the other. Throughout Oceania, 'The Party' rules by the agency of four ministries, whose power is absolute - the Ministry of Peace which deals with war, the Ministry of Love (headquarters of the dreaded Thought Police) which deals with law and order, the Ministry of Plenty which deals in scarcities, and the Ministry of Truth which deals with propaganda. The authorities keep a check on every action, word, gesture, or thought.' Hence the well - known phrase, "Big Brother is Watching".

It was and still is a fascinating book, the story of Winston Smith, the lowly functionary who works revising historical historical records to ensure they match with current government philosophies. his world is rocked when he helps Julia, who hands him a note stating "I Love You". And with that begins his spiralling life surreptitiously meeting with Julia, trying to avoid the Thought Police.

Even though we are now in 2010, the book still resonates. The question in 1984, when the movie was redone and new editions of the book published, was whether his vision of the world had taken place?Look at some aspects, such as CCTV in which your life is monitored, DNA registries, complex computer systems that track your financial transactions, your life in Blogs, etc. In some ways he was a pretty darn good forecaster of the future. But in others, maybe he wasn't so correct, that being that on the whole, the Western world does still permit freedom of expression, freedom of ideas. Even with the US Department of Homeland Security and the like, with the constant threat against individual freedoms vs security for the majority, we're probably not quite in Winston Smith's world yet.

I think one of my favourite parts of 1984 was Appendix 1, The Principles of Newspeak in which Orwell outlines the principal language of Oceania. For example, the use of the word 'free' was still acceptable, but only in the context of "The dog is free of lice", but not in the Oldspeak context of "intellectually or politically free". I'm so very glad I found this copy of 1984 as it has rekindled my interest in the book and also in George Orwell's other writings.

Other George Orwell novels

I have previously read only one other Orwell novel, his other iconic text, Animal Farm. I first became aware of the story when I saw the animated movie version of the story as a child. For me, and I'm quite sure I saw it in the early 60's on TV, it was sort of scary. The animals revolting and taking over Manor Farm.

The book was written in 1945, the edition on the left republished in 1985. It's the story of how the animals, lead by the pigs Snowball and Napoleon, take over Manor Farm. The basic commandment of the animals is "All animals are equal." Eventually, and this is where it gets scary, Napoleon takes over with the help of the dogs and chases Snowball away.

I won't get into it anymore in case you haven't read before because it is worth reading. The book reflects Orwell's suspicions concerning Communism as ruled by Joseph Stalin. You should read.

In the past few months (maybe years) I have found a couple of other Orwell books in my used book store explorations that are now on my 'to be read' shelf.


Down and Out in Paris and London



Down and Out in Paris and London was written in 1933 as a documentary narrative of Orwell's personal travels.

It's a factual account of his experiences among the poor of both capital cities.

In this edition the cover art shows a detail from "Bank Holiday in the Park" by William Roberts.

Burmese Days was one of Orwell's earliest novels, first published in 1934.

It reflects his impressions of the final days of the British Empire experienced during his days as a Police Officer in Burma.

The story was originally written in 1934 and this Penguin edition printed in 1969. As an aside, I've got to say if you want to have some nice books in your bookshelf, you can't go wrong with some Penguin Books. They add a wonderful look and touch to any display of books.

Burmese Days as described on the jacket -

"Flory, a timber merchant, has educated himself to a point of self disgust and acute horror of the other English people in a small town in upper Burma. Then Elizabeth Lackersteen arrives in Kyauktada to stay with her uncle. Flory sees in her a chance to escape from his drunken womanizing bachelordom, but he reckons without the wiles of U Po Kyin, the magistrate, the jealousy of a scheming ex-mistress, and above all, the cold opportunism of Elizabeth herself.." .. and the plot thickens.

Other Big Brothers

Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World in 1932. It is Huxley's best known novel. The version featured was printed in 1975 and I've had it since my university days.

The story is set in AD 2540 and everyone is ruled by the World State. To keep itself in power, this means that all people are conditioned from birth in the State's values; 'buy a new one instead of fixing the old one, because constant consumption, and near-universal employment to meet society's material demands, is the bedrock of economic and social stability for the World State.'

The book tells the story of Bernard, an alpha male who doesn't fit in because of his inferior stature and of Lenina, a vaccination worker who is attractive to a variety of males.

 Honestly, I can't say this is one of my all time favourite SciFi novels. I did take it in my Science Fiction novel course at University (I did indeed take a few 'bird' courses) and it does stand a test of time, one of those books that should be read.

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is another classic of the sci fi genre. It's another of my favourites. I guess I have a thing for the underdog.

It's the story of Guy Montag, a fireman, whose job is, instead of fighting fires, setting fires. He is part of a team that goes to the homes of dissidents, finding their stashes of books and burning them.. Hssssssssss! Boooooooo! (The title is explained within the book as the temperature at which book paper catches fire.

Like Winston Graham, Montag begins to question his life. Montag wanders through his life by rote, his marriage is boring, his life questionable. It's when he meets Clarisse McClellan that his life changes and he turns his questions into actions. I won't go any further in my summary, as the book is really a must read and I wouldn't want to ruin any of it.

The book was also a subject of quite a good movie, directed by Francois Truffaut and starring Oscar Werner as Montag and the lovely Julie Christie as Clarisse. I have read that Bradbury was so happy with the ending of the movie that he changed his version in future versions of the book. All in all, I highly recommend this book.

Another of my favourite stories in the Big Brother type futures is Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. I had read a couple of Margaret Atwood's other earlier Canadian Literature (Can Lit) stories while I was at University; Surfacing was one of the books we took in my first year Canadian Fiction course and I tried The Edible Woman and a book of her poetry, The Circle Game,but neither was my type of story.

In 1985, she tried her hand at science fiction with The Handmaid's Tale and hooked me. It incorporated her vision of an Orwellian future and also her feminist view of the world. the story deals with a future United States which has become sexually repressed new world called The Republic of Gilead. In it the world is ruled by an intolerable theocracy of religious extremists. The story revolves around Offred, a woman taken from her husband and family to become one of the handmaids, whose role, since she has been determined to be fertile, is to procreate for the Commander and his infertile wife. Once again you have a battle of the individual against the whole. This is an excellent story that I've read again and again and know I would enjoy again. It was also the subject of a well received movie, written by Margaret Atwood and Harold Pinter and starring Natasha Richardson as Offred, and Robert Duvall and Faye Dunaway as the Commander and his wife. I heartily recommend both.

The final book I'd like to recommend in this genre is P.D. James' Children of Men, published in 1985. This book was also subject of a film, with a pretty good cast, Clive Owen as the protagonist, Julianne as the female foil. But I've got to say it did not work. I so looked forward to seeing this movie and it was a total waste of time, so disappointing.

The book was excellent. P.D. James is noted for her Inspector Adam Dalgleish mysteries. This was a bit of a change for her and in my mind, it really worked.

Similar to the Handmaid's Tale, it does deal with mass infertility. It is set in England in 2021 and deals with a country that is steadily depopulating but there of course are a group of dissidents who don't follow the popular theories.

In this story the main character is an Oxford don , Theo Faron. Once again, this main male character meets a female Julian, who is part of a dissident group called the Five Fishes and they want Faron to approach his cousin who has been elected (decreed Warden of England) to persuade him to enact a variety of reforms including returning to a more democratic system. And the story goes on from there with the government chasing this group, especially since one is pregnant.

Once again, I enjoyed this story greatly and it fit nicely into the big government controlling the lives of its citizens and an individual/ small group of dissidents working against this tyrannical overrule.

I recommend all the above books and hope you take a chance on them.

Book Purchases and a What I'm Reading Update.

In an earlier Blog I updated on what I've been reading. At the time I was working through a couple of mysteries. I've since finished both and must say they were both enjoyable and exciting.

The Delicate Storm, by Giles Blunt, is a Canadian mystery (Note as per normal, there may be some spoiler content although I won't ruin the ending for you.) set in North Bay, Ontario, the town I was born in. For the purposes of his novels, Blunt calls the town Algonquin Bay, but pretty well everything else is recognizable as North Bay.

This is the second in the John Cardinal mysteries, Cardinal being an inspector for the Algonquin Bay police force. His partner, once again, is Inspector Lise Delorme, a northern Ontario French Canadian. They have a nice relationship, some twinges of possible romance, but Blunt doesn't make a bit deal about it. In fact, in this story, the relationship between Cardinal and his wife is nicely developed in this story.

As per the first story in the series, this one is nicely developed, with a few twists and turns to make it very interesting. There are parts to be played by both the RCMP and the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS). The story definitely has a Canadian feel; weather always playing a part, historical reference to one of Canada's major events of the 70's, the FLQ crisis. I really enjoyed this story and look forward to the next, Black Fly Season (yup, definitely Canadian..)

The second book I had on the go was John Dunning's The Bookman's Promise, the third in the Cliff Janeway mystery series. Janeway is a Denver ex-cop, who has become a used/ antique bookseller.

One thing I enjoy about the stories are the discussion of books, especially collectibles and each story revolves around antique books. Being someone who loves wandering around used book stores, makes Dunnings stories even more interesting.

In this story, Janeway is involved solving a murder, of course, and also tracking down a collection of books by Sir Richard Burton. The search is on behalf of an old woman, one of whose book Janeway had purchased at an auction.

Needless to say, there is murder, mystery and an interesting journey following Sir Richard Burton's wanderings around the Eastern states before the Civil War. If you enjoy a good mystery and hunting for used books, the Janeway books are for you. And I don't think you necessarily have to read them in sequence, although probably a good idea to at least start with Booked to Die as it does explain how Janeway goes from the Police Force to bookseller.

What I'm currently Reading.

Dark Fire by C.J. Sansom is a historical mystery. It's the second book in the Matthew Shardlake series. Shardlake is a hunchbacked lawyer working for Thomas Cromwell during the reign of Henry VIII. The first story, Dissolution, was excellent and so far this one is equally good.

Set in 1540, andduring the hottest summer of the 16th century, Shardlake finds himself involved in two different mysteries. Firstly he is trying to help a young girl, Elizabeth, defend herself against charges that she murdered her male cousin. Compounding the difficulties of this case is the fact that the young girl won't speak about anything.

In the other case, Shardlake has been called back to work by Thomas Cromwell to search out the Dark Fire, a legendary substance that supposedly the Byzantines used to destroy Arab navies.

So far, the story is moving along nicely and once again Sansom has drawn an intricate, suspenseful story. Looking forward to reading more.

The other story, my bedside table book, is The Ugly American, written in 1958 by William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick. This version was published 1969. This was one of two novels written by the two dealing with American foreign policy in the Far East.

The novel, along with the sequel Sarkhan, are set in the fictitious nation, Sarkhan, of course. The novel was an attempt to show Americans that their foreign policies weren't working and that there were other ways of achieving their aims and helping these other countries. That involved learning local customs and languages, following the way of life, etc.

I read the novel once before in junior high school and was totally hooked by the story. Sarkhan, as well, struck a chord with me. Eugene Burdick also wrote one of my favourite novels of that time, Fail Safe, probably one of the best political thrillers ever.

I bought this book in one of my used book store searches and wanted to see if it was as good now as I remembered it. So far, so good.. :0)

Rotary Club Book Sale

This weekend, the local Rotary Club has been having a book sale in the local shopping mall. Jo and I went to take a look while we were doing out grocery shopping yesterday and happily for both of us, we managed to find some books of interest. The price sure was right, $2 for hard covers, $1 for non - fiction paperbacks and $.50 for your standard paperback.

Jo found herself a Terence Conran design book, The Soft Furnishings Book. She said it was a bit out of date as it was originally published in 1986, but looking through it, the book is in such excellent condition.

As well, it's just a pleasure to look through, lovely photos, well - organized, as any Terence Conran book seems to be. It adds to her collection as Jo does like her design and decorating books and has a nice selection.

For $1.00, you can't go wrong. Definitely an excellent worthwhile purchase.

The other book she found was an interesting selection. Written in 1999, it's a series of short anecdotes by Carl Reiner, How Paul Robeson Saved My Life, one of the funniest comedians ever.

Another good buy, it was $2.00. Lovely condition again, it looks like it might be an interesting, humourous read.

Comments on the back, include Mel Brooks' "Surprisingly funny.", as he would say, being such a close friend.

I like Neil Simon's comment, "How Paul Robeson Save My Life is Carl Reiner's funniest book. Maybe it's because it's his shortest book. I love short, funny books."

Jo was pleased with her finds. I think I might enjoy reading the Carl Reiner one, looks good.




Now my purchases. I've grouped them to make it easier to show and take up a bit less space.

The Grand Dame of Mystery

I've bought a few of Ngaio Marsh's Inspector Alleyn mysteries before and have enjoyed them. It was really nice to find a few more buried in the boxes at the Book sale.

The French Police Inspector

Another mystery series that I enjoy. It's one I can pick up as a short, nicely written mystery. Maigret works in Paris and his cases are always enjoyable.

Tried and true mysteries

There was such an excellent, wide variety of books available. You just had to be patient and search through the boxes and boxes. I found some familiar, tried and true mystery writers; Josephine Tey, with an Inspector Grant mystery, a lucky Wycliffe find (always enjoy his mysteries) and one by one of the most prolific mystery writers ever, John Creasey. This one was written in 1945 and is a Patrick Dawlish mystery. Creasey is also known for his Gideon mysteries, written as JJ Marric, his Doctor Palfrey adventures, etc.  I was happy to find these.

Classic Spy/ Adventure Thrillers

I've been reliving the past a bit in recent years, collecting some of those books that I enjoyed so much as a kid. I was very pleased to find a Bond spy thriller, Dr. No, that I didn't have yet. I used to read these as guilty pleasures in Junior High school, lots of adventure, a bit of sex. I love the covers, even if they are a bit beaten up; in the great tradition of those flashy pulp fiction books. I've also been starting to collect Alistair MacLean books as well, even wrote a Blog on those I'd already collected a few weeks ago. MacLean wrote some of my favourite adventures and I looked forward to finding them in the book shelves at the Canex Bookstore in Lahr, Germany.

New Mysteries

I've seen both Margery Allingham and Patricia Wentworth before in my searches through my used book store but have felt I probably shouldn't start new series when I've got so many on the go. But I couldn't resist this time. So I figured I'd try a Miss Silver mystery by Patricia Wentworth and an Albert Campion mystery by Ms. Allingham. The missus tells me that the BBC had a series of Campion mysteries, starring Peter Davison of Dr Who and All Creatures Great and Small fame.

Also a great movie

This was a most fortunate find. I've enjoyed both movie versions of The Flight of the Phoenix. I probably prefer the Jimmy Stewart version, although, I think Jo liked the newer version because Hugh Lawrie was in it. So I was surprised to find the book at the sale. I really liked the cover, so it became a must have.

Two Classics

I couldn't resist these two. Both are favourites of mine that I've read a few times over the years. But I no longer had copies on the book shelves at home. When I saw these, both Penguin editions and both in excellent condition, I had to pick them up. All in all, Jo and I had a successful outing and we are both happy with our finds.

Keep buying books!!

Canadian Fiction - L. R. Wright, Mystery Writer

(There may be some spoilerish content below, but I haven't given away any secrets to the mysteries mentioned. Apologies to the quality of the book covers. I no longer have my copies of LR Wright's stories so had to find photos online)

Laurali Rose (L.R.) Wright was born in Saskatchewan. As a child she followed her family around, even moving to northern Germany, Hamer to be exact, as her father was in the Canadian Army.  She married John Wright in 1962. She worked as a reporter for the Calgary Herald when they lived there and when the family moved to Edmonton, she was able to dedicate herself to writing full-time. (A lucky break for her many fans to be)

Between 1979 and 1984, she had 3 novels published and at the same time she resettled to Burnaby, B.C. Her fourth novel, The Suspect, was the start of a successful series of mysteries set in B.C., along the Sunshine Coast. In this novel, she introduced us to one of my favourite fictional characters, Sergeant Karl Alberg of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

This wasn't the first of LR Wright's mysteries that I read, but chronologically, it should be discussed first. I've read every one of her mystery stories. There were 9 Alberg mysteries and two of Sergeant Edwina Henderson, the Mountie who took over for Alberg when he retired.

Even disregarding the presence of our vaunted Mounties, the stories are very Canadian, very West Coast Canadian. The area of BC used in the stories, the Sunshine Coast, located north of Vancouver, covers communities such as Sechelt, Gibsons, all the way to Powell River. It's been the setting of a well-known (in Canada, at the very least) of the CBC's Beachcombers television series). L.R. Wright gets the feel for the small communities exceedingly well.

I enjoyed her mysteries greatly. The Suspect earned the honour as first Canadian writer to win the Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Novel of 1985. From that point on, she concentrated on mysteries. The series introduce us to Karl Alberg, his small police station in Sechelt and also to his personal life, especially his ongoing relationship with the town librarian, Cassandra. LR Wright's mysteries, like so many great mysteries, weren't so much about the mystery itself. Rather they focused on Karl Alberg, his dealings with the the local town folk, his developing personal relationships, with Cassandra and also his daughter.

It's been a long time since I've read the stories, but if I recall, in most cases, in not all, you also knew who the murderer/ criminal was from the beginning and the development of that character's personality was also one of the many interesting aspects of the particular story. In The Suspect, for example, the 'criminal mastermind' is eighty year old George Wilcox who kills one of his old crony friends. The story revolves around George, Cassandra and sympathetic Karl Alberg. It is this developing relationship that gets your interest.

With The Suspect, LR Wright began a wonderful exploration of Karl Alberg's universe.  He reminds me of other great police officers in fiction; Jesse Stone, Chief Inspector Barnaby, amongst others. The joy of their stories is their interaction with their fellow officers, their surroundings. It is this that makes their stories so interesting. And, hey, they also solve interesting mysteries.

The next story in the Sgt Alberg mysteries was Sleep While I Sing, published in 1986. It dealt with the murder of a young woman, whose body was found at the side of the road, her throat slashed.

As Karl Alberg works to solve this mystery, he is also trying to deal with Cassandra's, his librarian girl friend, new infatuation with a Hollywood actor, Roger Galbraith, who has moved to Sechelt to live with his mother. Compounding this is the fact that Galbraith who is flirting not only with Cassandra but most of the eligible women in town, but is also one of the main suspects in the murder.

LR Wright had the ability to continue developing her characters to ensure you remained deeply involved in their lives. You want Alberg and Cassandra to get together and these speed bumps that crop up to slow down their relationship add to the interest.

And at the same time, she draws you into the mystery, how Karl goes around in his methodical, intuitive way to ultimately solving, in this case, a violent murder.

The first story I actually read of LR Wright was the third installment, which I found in the mystery section of ABC Books during one of my trips there. A Chill Rain in January was published in 1990 and definitely worth the wait. For my first exposure to LR Wright's mastery at writing, it was an excellent start.

The 'chill' was palpable and I could definitely feel the BC winter. The blackberry bushes, the cold off the water, the dampness, she described it eloquently. It was an excellent mystery; what were in the diaries that Zoe Strachan's brother had found and wanted to use against her, unless she gave him the money he wanted.

Alberg is drawn into Zoe's mystery as well as that of Ramona Olitzki, the lady trying to hide from being put into a Seniors home. Once again, Alberg's involvement in a case has a negative effect on his relationship with Cassandra.

As I read through the Alberg mysteries, I felt that it would be the perfect venue for a TV mystery series, prime fodder for PBS's Masterpieces Theater. I've tried to picture who could play Sgt Alberg. If Paul Gross hadn't already played Benton Fraser to such success, he might be the perfect actor for the role. I'd prefer a Canadian actor, obviously, someone in their late '30s or early '40s. With the nine books, it could make a nice run and done well, would make an excellent series. Maybe Paul Gross is the man for the job. :0)

I won't get into every story, but after A Chill Rain in January, there followed Fall From Grace(91) , Prized Possessions (93), A Touch of Panic (94), Mother Love (95), A Stranger Among Us (96) and Acts of Murder(97).

In Acts of Murder, we are introduced for the first time to a new character, Sgt Edwina Henderson who must help Alberg in a race against time to discover who the 'Avenging Angel' is as this person is on a mission to rid Sechelt of those who sin. When the next story came out, Kidnap, Sgt Alberg has retired and his place taken by Edwina Henderson. Edwina was as much of an enjoyable character as Alberg. I looked forward to her stories just as much and LR Wright had lost none of her touch in spinning a lovely story as well as a fine mystery.

The final story in the series was Menace written in 2001 which continues Edwina's role as Detachment Commander. In this she and her new second in command are once again embroiled in two seemingly unrelated crimes, that quickly escalate.

It was after having read Menace and impatiently waiting for the next in the series that I had a conversation with a lady on a plane when I was returning to BC from a conference. I noticed that the lady was reading one of LR Wright's stories so I began a conversation with her; both of us being fans of LR Wright's stories. This was when I discovered that LR Wright had passed away. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995 but through treatment was given a clean bill of health in 1997.

Unfortunately, it flared up again and on February 21, 2001, she passed away. It was a very sad, shocking moment to discover this. Not only a great writer, but a wife and mother, L.R. Wright will no longer share her talent and ability with us. To look at the good side, she brought a joy of mystery and the West Coast of BC to so many fans. Her stories were excellent and should live on for future fans.

More on Comics, Part 2 - Dynamic Heroines

In previous Blogs, I talked about my initial experiences buying and enjoying Comics. In a later Blog about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the books, TV show and also comics, I talked about how my interest in comics was rekindled when I discovered the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics.

As I started to buy the Buffy comics, I began to check out what new comics were now for sale. It had been 30+ years since I'd collected seriously. The comics that I'd had left over from my childhood had been sold at a yard sale shortly after my divorce. I still had my Kamandi series, The New Gods, plus sundry Haunted Tanks, Sgt Rock and Easy Company, etc. I sold the bunch for a song basically. I do regret it now, but you can't live in the past.

Anyway, I had been buying Buffy for awhile and started to look at a few other comics. I still felt somewhat foolish, even buying the Buffy comics as I was a middle aged man. But there were a few that caught my eye. These usually involved a superhero heroine. Yup, I like comics with female heroines. For some reason I also tend to prefer books written by women or with female leads, e.g. Karin Slaughter, Sue Grafton, Kathy Reich's, etc. When I look at my music I think I have more female singers than male. I don't know why this is so, maybe just the variety?

So back to comics. I'm not sure which I bought first, but over time, there were three comic series that I began to follow; Witchblade, Tomb Raider and Fathom.

I became interested in Tomb Raider probably because I had the computer game. I'm not sure which came first, the chicken or the egg - the computer game or the comic, but I think the former. Dynamic, adventurous, full of life and neat story lines, all grabbed me. The art work was excellent, even with changes to writers and inkers, but the overall quality was excellent.

When the first movie came out, with Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft, she was perfect for the role. She made a great comic book heroine. I preferred the second movie probably as it was more to the point and had a better story.

I collected Tomb Raider from Dec 99 thru Jan 05. But by then I had become interested in other series and the series was winding down.

I started collecting the Witchblade series in Aug 99. Sara Pezzini, a New York police detective, also possesses the Witchblade a sentient weapon that becomes part of her. Sara struggles to control the weapon in solving supernatural cases that she becomes involved in.

She often works with The Darkness, wielded by Jackie Estacado in battling supernatural forces. She has also worked with Lara Croft in crossovers and also Fathom.

I enjoyed the series quite a bit. It was quite dark and gritty, but the stories of David Wohl and Mark Silvestri were quite readable.

There was an attempt at a TV series, starring Yancy Butler as Sara Pezzini, but it just didn't seem to have the same feel and the special effects weren't great. I stopped buying this series in 2005 as well. It had lost some of its appeal. I do see the latest iteration of Witchblade on the book shelves now, but I prefer other series.

The other series of the 'Big Three' was Michael Turner's Fathom. This series followed the adventures of Aspen Matthews. A young woman discovered at sea and suffering from amnesia, she slowly discovers she is in fact not human, but one of the Blue, a race that lives below the surface of the seas, trying to avoid contact with humanity. She is as well, and this is discovered in later issues, a part of the Black, another of the undersea races.

Aspen possesses powers to use water as a weapon and she uses this to try and keep mankind from destroying the Blue and vice versa.

It was an excellent series, but hit by delays due to the creator, Michael Turner's battle with cancer. In this battle, he was ultimately unsuccessful, but he created a wonderful series and many others for Top Cow. This is a series that I still follow and I look forward to the next issues.

The latest rumour is that Megan Fox has signed to act in the lead role in a Fathom movie, although I must say there is nothing in imdb about it. If done right, I think she would make quite a suitable Aspen Matthews.

Aphrodite IX came out in 1996 written by David Wohl and was a relatively short lived series. It concerned Aphrodite an android trained as an assassin. After her missions she retained no memory of her missions.

However there is some mission creep and she develops a distaste for her role and has desires to be a human.

This is a tried and true concept. If you consider Dollhouse by Joss Whedon and also Charlize Theron's movie, Aeon Flux, both have similar ideas in their development.

It was an interesting concept and I enjoyed the series. It was unfortunate that it had such a short run.

Searching through back editions at my comic book store, I found the Birds of Prey. I didn't buy too many of them, but I did enjoy the series. It was a DC series about Oracle, formerly Bat Girl, who is paralyzed from the waist down and is the brains of the operation.

Huntress and Black Canary feature in the comics I purchased and they were guided by Oracles computer hacking skills and guidance.

There was a very short lived, unfortunately, TV series loosely based on the comics. Dina Meyer played Oracle and Ashley Scott, Huntress. They were joined by Rachel Skarsten as Dinah and in one episode, Lori Loughlin appeared as Black Canary. I enjoyed both the comics and the series.

The last of the dynamic female super heroine type comic I'll mention is my most recent series. That is David Wohl's, Executive Assistant.

Iris, as a young girl, finds herself at an Academy in China, learning to be an Executive Assistant. This involves somewhat more than your normal EA, rather she is also a trained ninja, sent by her boss to remove intransigent competitors.

Like Nikita, she begins to develop doubts about her boss and her role. When he sends assassins after her to kill her and her lover, she decides to avenge her loss.

It's an interesting and well drawn series and as mentioned above, she does remind me somewhat of the new Nikita.


Next comic Blog will cover other series, such as those of Alan Moore and J. Michael Straczynski. Check out your local comic book store, you might find something interesting there. :0)

A Little Bit of History, Part 1

I must say that History was one of my least favourite subjects in school, that and Geography. At the first opportunity, when I had a choice in my subjects and I believe that was when I was in Grade 10 at Brookfield Secondary School in Ottawa, I dropped both. I don't know if it was the teacher, what history we were learning, but I do recall when we took Canadian history, just finding it so boring.

I tried again in University to take a couple of history courses, when I had to pick up some half courses in second year. I think one dealt with the Spanish Reformation, the other with the history of Spain after the Spanish armada (something like that anyway).. Yawwwwwnnnnn!! I guess the problem wasn't so much history itself (see my Blog on the first of my Top Ten books, The Guns of August), more likely, I just didn't like the analyzing and writing essays on the subject. Yes, I'm basically lazy.

So with that preamble about history as a subject, I thought I'd go through some of my favourite history books. I think the theme this time will cover England and the period of the Boer War through to current history of the country. Firstly, what do I enjoy about reading a particular history? And here I go analyzing.. lol, amazing. I think part of it is comparing a particular period to the present, also maybe getting a picture of a particular period that I've discovered in reading fiction or mysteries set in that time frame. Basically, I just like a good story and that's what history basically is I guess, a story of a particular time, and if it's presented well, it's worth reading. That's why I liked The Guns of August so much. Barbara Tuchman displayed the period so well, described the characters and events in such a manner to put you in the events taking place.

So on to the books for this particular Blog. I'll cover 5 books here.

The first is The Great Boer War, by A. Conan Doyle. It was written in 1900. This particular edition was published by George N. Morang @ Company of Toronto, third Impression of January 1901. I bought it at the Grafton Book Shop in Victoria, BC. They have a really nice collection of old books and I did like to wander through it, admiring their collections.

The first thing I liked about this book was its age and the excellent condition it was still in. It's got that texture to the pages where they develop little ridges (I think that's the way to describe it best). It makes you take a great care when you sit down to read it.

As well, there are five maps inside of the different points of the battles that Mr Doyle describes throughout. Basically, it's a lovely book first.

The Boer War was fought between the British Empire and the two Boer nations, The Orange Free State and the Transvaal. As Arthur Conan Doyle describes the book in the forward, 'The book was begun in England, and continued on board a steamer, but the greater part was written in a hospital tent in the intervals of duty during the epidemic of Bloemfontein. Often the only documents which I had to consult were the wounded officers and men who were under our care.'

Doyle worked in a field hospital during the war. It's a somewhat dry exposition, but a good description of the nations involved, the causes of the war and an overall description of the events and personalities. I quite enjoyed the book. Doyle expresses concerns about the qualities of equipment and tactics of the British army. You will find this is followed on by Barbara Tuchman when she describes the British involvement in the early days of WWI. Did the British army learn anything from the Boer War regarding tactics, equipment, training, etc? A good read if you want to find out more about the Boer War.

Book Number 2 - Paris 1919 was written in 2001 by Margaret Macmillan is the grand daughter of Olwen Elizabeth Lloyd George, daughter of David Lloyd George, who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain during the events described in this novel. She received her PhD from Oxford and is provost of Trinity College and professor of history at University of Toronto.

This book covers the peace conference after World War I. At this conference, the Big Three, President Woodrow Wilson, Prime Minister David Lloyd George and French premier Georges Clemenceau, met in Paris to create a peace.

It is these events that Margaret Macmillan describes so very well in this excellent novel. She writes this story so clearly and knowledgeably that it becomes a page turner that you would have great difficulty putting down. The events that took place at this conference still echo in today's world. These leaders and the personalities from all other countries that took part had to divide and sort out the various warring regions of the world to try and make a peace that would hold and prevent future catastrophes. Obviously it wasn't a success considering the events which followed, such as World War II, the Balkan crises of the late 1980's, events in the Middle East.

But as you read this book, you get a feel for the events, the difficult decisions that had to be made as each of the main players tried to appease the competing parties, each who wanted something from this conference. Fascinating and an excellent book.

Book 3 - With this story I move up the events leading into World War II. Troublesome Young Men was written by former White House correspondent Lynne Olson. It covers the events after Hitler's invasion of Poland and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's attempts to appease Hitler.

The troublesome young men are a group of rebellious Tory MP's who risked their political careers to bring down Chamberlain and his policies. They included Harold Macmillan, Robert Boothby, Leo Amery and many others.

The fact was that a great majority of the press and powers that were supported Chamberlain. Not only did they not want another war, many actually supported Hitler.

This group of politicians worked behind the scenes in difficult circumstances, risking everything to have Chamberlain removed. Oddly enough, Churchill did not vocally support them as he was a loyal party member. The wheeling's and dealings are covered very well in this novel. The results are obviously known by all, with Churchill taking over as Prime Minister during a critical period in Great Britain's history and standing firm against Hitler and the Nazis. The book covers a critical time in World history and is well written and well worth reading.

Book 4 - William Stevenson was a Canadian soldier, businessman and senior representative of the British intelligence during the Second World War. His codename was Intrepid. During WW II he was sent by Churchill to the US to head the British Security Coordination service in New York, whose responsibility was to try and get the US into the war, basically.

In this book, Spymistress, the Life of Vera Atkins, Stevenson tells the stories of one of his greatest recruits, Vera Atkins, 'the greatest female secret agent of World War II'. She was born in Romania of Romanian/ Jewish descent. He recruited her at the age of 23 where she became involved running dangerous spy missions in the 1930's. When war was declared, she was propelled to the leadership of the Special Operations Executive, where she recruited and deployed countless agents, including dozens of brave women who were to penetrated deep into enemy lines to aid local resistance fighters, help Allied pilots escape, etc. Little was known about here and Stevenson kept her secrets until her death, He was the only person she would let write about her exploits, with the condition that it could only be written after her death.

This is a fascinating story about a young women sending brave men and women into great danger and possible torture and death. William Stevenson is very sympathetic in his coverage of Vera and her group who seemed to love her very much. The book did leave me wanting more but on the whole, it is an interesting account of the training, dealings with suspicious levels of government, battles to get money for the Resistance and to save her spies from sure death. Vera Drake was definitely one of a kind and an unsung hero of the war.

 Book 5 - This last book, A History of Modern Britain, covers the history of Britain after the Second World War. Andrew Marr is a newspaper journalist and also has been the BBC's political editor. He wrote this book in 2007 and it covers the people, personalities, life styles, culture and a bit of everything about Great Britain from the period after the Second World War until the 1990's.

Besides the fact that it's extremely well written, I think I liked it especially because it covers my era, the 50's and onwards. I also got further insight from my lovely wife, Jo, who hails from Britain. As personalities or events were mentioned, I could use her as a sounding board as she was familiar with much of what was written especially as I got into the 60's and onward.

I enjoyed the book and its format. Andrew Marr has an easy style of writing and he took the time to cover key political events and ideas of each period he was taking about and also got into the cultural and even pop culture of each period, including music, housing, industry, art. It really gave an excellent picture of a period of Britain's history and a perspective on how the country changed and struggled and grew as each crisis hit it. I really enjoyed this book.

Well, there you go, maybe I do enjoy history after all...

Displaying books....

I'm stealing a bit of a page from my lovely wife's Blog here, sort of. (sorry Jo.). I'm no designer, heaven forfend, but I do like to show off my books. Well, in the early days, like back in university and my beginnings in the Canadian Forces, I didn't really have the wherewithal and room to really display my books at all.

For example when I first graduated from University of Toronto in '78, I was transferred to my first job in the military. That was to Cold Lake Alberta, where much to my pleasant surprise, rather than just a single Barrack room I was given two adjoining rooms. However, furnishings were very basic, a bed and chair in the bedroom portion and a desk and couch in the living room portion; maybe a small coffee table too.

So using my limited financial resources of the time; I was still an Officer Cadet, making about $400 per month, from which I also had to pay rations and quarters, I did acquire some items, note the fancy bookshelf from Canadian tire and the TV trays. Heck, seeing the speaker in the corner between the desk and bookshelf, brings back fond memories of my old quadraphonic 8-track stereo system.Those were the good old days.

Anyway, my display abilities were minimal as you can swell see. I'm trying to see some of the books I may have had back then, but it's much too difficult to read. But my collection was building.

I got married in 81, and still in the military, moved around Canada and over to Germany. I don't really have any photos of that time to display my books. I do recall some floor to ceiling book shelf units that were purchased, probably in the Brick or one of those warehouse furniture stores. After my divorce in 96, I was basically back to square one. I lived in a two bedroom, one story residential unit at Canadian Forces Base Ottawa, had the furniture I inherited from the divorce. I put books wherever I could. Note the Anita Blake books and another vampire series by Jeanne Kalogridis, The Covenant of the Vampire trilogy. This was my master bedroom, although when my daughters came to spend a weekend, it was there room and I moved to the other bedroom. :0)

Since that time, my life has turned around. I met Jo in 2001 and we married in 2002. For the first year of our marriage, we lived in a unit I was renting in Comox, BC, but in June 2003, we purchased our current residence. It's a lovely place and we've spent a considerable time making it our own, painting rooms, installing new carpet, etc, etc. I just wanted to take a few moments to show some of the rooms, with bookshelves, either units we purchased in the area or at local auctions, or the built-ins we just recently had installed by a local carpenter.

To the right is one portion of a 3 - piece sectional unit we bought at Home Depot. We had originally considered having built-ins installed in the study, but these seemed so perfect and the fit as snug as built ins. To the left of the picture is the desk with computer and of course the comfy chair to add a bit of spice to the room. I give Jo credit for organizing the shelves. I would tend to cram the books in (note the bottom left corner, the two shelves of books - yet- to read, which is an example of me being left to my own devices.) every shelf. But Jo has a knack of mixing and matching books and our collectibles to make it a nice cozy package. The study is a nice place to relax and read, especially when Jo is on the computer, so we can spend time together.

We found this bookcase at an auction house we used to go to in Cumberland, until it closed down. It's actually two pieces, the bottom portion was the bookcase. Both were dark brown and Jo painted white and added the books later. It's located in the front landing, just as the staircase turns to go upstairs.

In fact, the bigger bookcase did have glass sliding doors, or should have.. hmmm. Anyway, without them it's a really nice bookshelf. We now have a nice gas lamp where the flowers show. We found that at an antique store down island.

The bottom shelf contains some of Jo's design magazines, plus some books we bought at the auction. The top shelves display some of my Penguin books, Alexander McCall Smith, Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series and at the time, the Sharpe books by Bernard Cornwell. More recently, with the installation of the built ins, we've moved books around to better fit the locations.

This next bookshelf was also bought at an auction. It's already displayed in my Blog cover page. Jo painted this white as well. You'd never know it, but it doesn't have a proper back, but it does blend into the Best Lounge (as we call it) very nicely.

It's tucked into a corner nicely, beside a comfy chair. It basically contains a number of my other 'to read' books, plus my Ian Rankin series on the second shelf. I'm about half way through that series, the one facing back to front unlike the others is where I'm currently stopped.

The top shelf is mostly unread, well, a mixture of both. And in the bottom shelf holds, amongst others, my Edgar Rice Burroughs, John Carter of Mars series, purchased while my father was stationed overseas, in Germany.

To finish, let's go to the piece de resistance, one of the nicest things we've had done to the old homestead. Last summer, we had a local carpenter come over and install a wall of built ins in the Lounge.

He did such a fantastic job. He did most of the work at his own shop and when he was finished he brought over the unit in three big pieces; the unit to the left is the biggest, and goes from floor to ceiling.

Jo has organized in such a nice way, it really makes the lounge look so cozy and lovely. Bottom left are my Anita Blake books, by Laurell K Hamilton, plus some other Sci Fi and mysteries. You can see Jo's Terence Conran design books bottom right. The greenish books top right are a series of children's books, each containing poems and short stores for each age of childhood. We found those at a used/ antique bookstore just south of Nanaimo.

The shelf to the right was a smaller unit. It sits on the right of the doorway into the dining room. The lower row of shelves contains more of Jo's design books and others of interest.

On the top row, you will find a mixture of Jo's Kathy Kelley novels, plus some biographies.

Finally, you can get a complete picture of the whole row of built ins. The final of the three portions is the shelf that runs across the whole wall, the very top row. The top row still is a work in progress somewhat as regards to the books and items to go there, but that's part of the fun. There are still books to be bought!! For the time being, some of the books up there, include from left to right; Karin Slaughter, Ellis Peters and Michelle Spring mysteries in the first cubbyhole. The Robert E Howard, Conan the Barbarian Books plus my Philip K Dick books occupy the second cubby. Second from the right contains my CS Forester and Bernard Cornwell historical dramas.

Through the glass doors is the dining rooms. I think you can get a feel for how cozy the shelves has made the lounge. It's definitely become our favourite room. 

Keep on reading!