It's the 21st of February 2026 and last night we had our 1st snowfall of this winter. Not much of one just a little dusting but the grass and rooftops have a light coating. It's supposed to go up to 7 ℃ or so in the next day or so, so that'll be it. I'm in the den at the moment listening to Canada vs Great Britain in the men's curling final at the Olympics. They are in the final wind down now. Jo and I have enjoyed very much. I'm also checking in on the live text of the Blue Jays' first spring training game. Oh and to continue the great sports overlap, Brighton and Wrexham won the footie matches today. 😉😉
So now onto a reading update.
Completed Books
(Six books completed since my last update)
1.
Love and Rockets; Vol. 4, Tears from Heaven by
Jaime Hernandez (Love & Rockets #4 / 1988).
"Love and Rockets, Vol. 4: Tears from Heaven by Jaime Hernández is the 2nd collection from the Love and Rockets graphic novel collection by the Hernandez brothers, Jaime and Gilbert that I've read and while I'm not sure how to describe it, I do know that I'm enjoying very much.
Tears for Heaven is the 4th collection and it contains a variety of stories that are a mix of fiction, Science Fiction and even a bit of mystery. There is some violence, such as in Tears from Heaven, although it is off to the side somewhat. There is some nudity and sex, but nothing drastic.
The people are all beautifully drawn. The stories are all neat, loud, brash and filled with intersting people. The stories are sexy, especially when Luba is in them. There are quirky Sci Fi interludes with Rocky and her robot Fumbles. There is an odd, creepy story featuring Errata Stigmata. It's a bit all over the place but I love the artwork... once again Maggie is one of my favorite characters, drawn just beautifully, even if she doesn't feature as much as she does in The Death of Speedy.
The stories are a mix of Jaime's and Gilberts, les Bros Hernandez. I can't describe it any better except to say, they are different from any graphic novels I've ever read and I will continue to search for more of them... House of Raging Women is on order.. (4.0 stars)"
2.
The Confession of Brother Haluin by
Ellis Peters (Cadfael #15 / 1988). One of my favorite mystery series.
"The Confession of Brother Haluin is the 15th book in the Cadfael historical mystery series by Ellis Peters. This story is set in December 1142. It starts off slowly, with a winter storm causing a leak in the roof Cadfael's Chapter House in Shrewsbury. The monks set about replacing the tiles on the roof, even though it is slippery and dangerous. One monk, Brother Haluin, slips, crashing to the earth and is close to death. With medicinal help from Brother Cadfael and the Benedictine's hospitaller, they manage to keep Haluin alive, even though his feet have been terribly damaged in the crash.
While recovering, Haluin makes a confession to the head monk and Cadfael. When he is recovered enough to walk with crutches Haluin requests permission to travel to a far location so he can ask forgiveness for deeds he did before he became a monk. A son of a wealthy family he worked as a clerk in another household. There he fell in love with the daughter, but mom refused to let them get married. Even so, the daughter got pregnant. Haluin was banished, joining the monastery as penance. The mother forced him to give her a drug to cause a miscarriage and both mother and child died.
Haluin craves forgiveness from the mother and also wants to pray before the crypt of Bertrade. It is while there that everything begins to happen. While things seem to be progressing nicely for Cadfael and Haluin, Haluin is persuaded to wed a young couple. Then there is a death (murder) and things begin to unravel. But for Cadfael, things begin to make more and more sense and we end up with a nicely solved mystery and a satisfying ending.
The Cadfael stories are always entertaining and offer an intersting look at life during that time; both the religious life and the lives of those living during that time. I have only 4 more books to enjoy in this series. It's been a fun ride. (4.0 stars)"
3,
Special Deliverance by
Clifford D. Simak (Sci Fi / 1982). My continuing exploration of the work of Clifford Simak.
"As much as I have found the Sci Fi of Clifford D. Simak to be hit or miss, I keep finding myself drawn to trying more of his work. pecial Deliverance, originally published in 1982 was my latest effort. It was most entertaining.
The story focuses on Professor Edward Lansing. He accuses one of his students of plagiarizing in his essay. The boy says he got it from a slot machine. Of course Lansing believes the boy is lying but finds himself checking out this machine. Strangely the machine talks to him and sends him to another room where there are more machines. Suddenly he finds himself in a field on another planet? Another Earth? He meets 5 other humans, or more correctly 4 humans and a robot; Mary (an engineer) from a technological Earth, Sandra (a poet) from a literary Earth, Jurgens (the robot) from an Earth that most humans departed, the Brigadier (a military man) from an earth that plays war games & the Parson (a preacher) from a religious Earth.
These six begin a journey across this new Earth to discover why they are there and that is the basis of the story. The planet is pretty well vacant, although they will eventually meet other humans who were sent to this Earth on similar missions. The journey has its hazards but it's the interactions between the six that is of the most interest; their personalities which often clash, their beliefs that affect what they do and where they go and how they interact.
It's not a perfect story by any means but it moves along very nicely and each obstacle they come across is interesting and causes new interactions between them. Do they discover why they have been sent there? Do they discover who sent them there? Well, that's what makes the story intersting. Check it out. (3.5 stars)"
4.
Archivist Wasp by
Nicole Kornher-Stace (Archivist Wasp #1 / 2015). My favorite book of Feb so far.
"Archivist Wasp was my 1st exposure to the work of American author Nicole Kornher-Stace. I think I saw this book listed at the back of The Armitage Stories which was also published by Big Mouth House. At any event, I am so very glad that I bought the book and made it one of my reading challenges for 2026. What an imaginative, fascinating fantasy story. There is one more book in the series, Latchkey, that I've now ordered to see how the series ends/ continues??
So, let's see. Archivist Wasp lives in a dystopic future or a fantastical world and her job in the village in which she resides is to capture ghosts or kill them and set them free. She works for the Latchkey Priest (not a nice person). Each year, and this is where the story starts, Latchkey assigns one of the upstarts (a group of trainee Archivists) to challenge the current Archivist. Whoever survives will either remain Archivist or become the new one. In this battle, Wasp refuses to kill her challenger. Latchkey Priest is not happy nor are the villagers who bet on the match.
Wasp is quite badly hurt but doesn't go to see the village midwife who can provide medical care. Instead she goes ghost hunting. Surprisingly she meets a ghost who actually talks and who has a tool to repair her injuries. He asks Wasp to help him find his partner, who is also a ghost but who for unknown reasons he cannot find. Thus begins the great journey with Wasp and the ghost heading into the underworld (Dante anyone??) to try and find Foster.
As the journey progresses, they will have various battles to fight and Wasp will learn more about the ghost, the past and how much Latchkey Priest might have been lying to her and the villages. It's such a fascinating, intricate story that you really have to experience it to get the whole gist of the story.
Wasp is a grumpy individual who constantly resents the ghost who came to her. The ghost himself is also fascinating, some sort of genetically enhanced soldier... well, you may find out more in the story, desperate to find his partner. The ghost underworld is a neat place, the way stations, the ghosts they meet and the Lurchers they have to fight. Everything about this story was fascinating, dark but hopeful at the same time. And a quite satisfying ending. I'm hoping #2 provides more insight into the past and how this world came to be. Well worth checking out. (4.5 stars)"
5.
Ms. Tree: Fallen Tree by
Max Allan Collins (Ms. Tree #6 / 2024).
"I've enjoyed the Ms. Tree graphic novel series from Hard Case Crime. Ms. Tree Vol. 6: Fallen Tree by Max Allan Collins is, I believe, the last book in the series and it was ok. I thought at times it was going through the motions somewhat, that the story lines and endings were a bit pat, but, still, I did enjoy them.
Ms. Tree is a different series, nice to have a basic crime series to enjoy. Ms. Tree runs a Private investigation agency, having taken it over from her husband when he was murdered on a case. She's spent the past editions wreaking vengeance on those mobsters responsible for his death.
There are a variety of stories in this collection. Ms. Tree, on a dinner date, is at a restaurant attacked by a man who wants to get his vengeance on her date, an insurance executive who refused to insure his wife, who then died. In another, Ms. Tree's stepson and the daughter of her arch-enemy, who she has made an uneasy truce with, are both kidnapped. The two women (the Muerta gang is now run by a woman) have to work together to get them back and then deal with the fact that the two kids have fallen love (Romeo & Juliet much?)
Tree goes to LA when her father, a cop about to retire, is murdered and set up as a drug dealer. She has to deal with her younger sister, with whom she was estranged, and also prove her father wasn't bent.
As well, Tree and her associates go on a business cruise in the Caribbean and end up helping an old friend, another PI, Mike Mist, solve a case he was working on. It was an ok series of adventures, but nothing exceptional. (3.0 stars)"
6.
Where I Was From by
Joan Didion (Non Fic / 2003).
"Where I Was From is the 3rd collection of essays I've read from American author Joan Didion and while, like the others, it's beautifully written, I think it was probably the least accessible to me of the three.
The collection contains excerpts from books on early California, excerpts from a fiction story she wrote, Run River, thoughts from her own childhood in California and just what she discovered as she conducted interviews throughout California, especially the Sacramento area, for articles she was writing.
Didion grew up in California but also moved around with her family as they followed her father's military career. The story starts with the theory of California's rugged individualism, from the early settlers, even those in the Donner party. She perceived it to be a core belief from those early Californians, even gave a speech about it in school. But as she grew up, she discovered a sort of dichotomy, rugged individualism but also the contrariness of California's dependence on Federal funding support.
She talks about communities that were built up around huge military contractors factories and American military bases. And when these contractors were forced to readjust their workload how these communities began to shrink and how people were forced to move to other states to find 'suitable' work.
In the course of her look, she covers a variety of topics, sexual predators, the states shift from small farms to huge farms, the switch to military contracting, the debt to the railways. I found the story about the Spur Posse, a group of high school boys who lived in one of these fabricated communities, Lakewood, who preyed on young girls and younger kids, quite disturbing, especially considering the issues currently being raised in the US House of Reps..
The book was published in 2003 but I was surprised about some of her info, how low California ranked in education. The prevalence of insane asylums was quite shocking and something I'd never heard before. The power of the California Prison Guard's union was also interesting, how many prisons sprang up in California's history.
It's an interesting book that wanders from subject to subject, from reminiscences to history. But I wasn't sure the point she was getting at, which took away a bit from it for me. I'm still glad I read it and I'm enjoying exploring her work and will continue to do so. Just that this was not one of my favorites of the three so far. (3.5 stars)"
Currently Reading
(Books started since my last update.)
1.
A Ghost in the Machine by
Caroline Graham (Chief Inspector Barnaby #7 / 2004). It's been awhile since I visited the murder capital of the UK, that being Midsomer... 😉
"A Ghost in the Machine is the captivating seventh novel in the Midsomer Murders series starring Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby. Features an exclusive foreword by John Nettles, ITV's DCI Tom Barnaby.
If you love Agatha Christie, Ann Granger and James Runcie's The Grantchester Mysteries you'll love the Midsomer Murders mysteries by Caroline Graham.
For all its old-fashioned charm, Forbes Abbot is far from the close-knit community that ex-Londoners Mallory and Kate Lawson expected. In this village, everyday squabbles can quickly turn to murder.
As the couple begins to settle into their new life away from the big city, it isn't long until they're thrown into the horror and mayhem of a true Midsomer Murders mystery.
Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby has encountered many intriguing cases in his years on the force, but soon he will discover that the incident of the ghost in the machine is the most challenging of them all."
2. Standing in Another Man's Grave by Ian Rankin (Rebus #18 / 2012).
"A series of seemingly random disappearances - stretching back to the millennium. A mother determined to find the truth. A retired cop desperate to get his old life back...
It's been some time since Rebus was forced to retire, and he now works as a civilian in a cold-case unit. So when a long-dead case bursts back to life, he can't resist the opportunity to get his feet under the CID desk once more. But Rebus is as stubborn and anarchic as ever, and he quickly finds himself in deep with pretty much everyone, including DI Siobhan Clarke.
All Rebus wants to do is uncover the truth. The big question is: can he be the man he once was and still stay on the right side of the law?"
3. Beyond the Black Stump by Nevil Shute (Fic / 1956). Nevil Shute is one of those authors on my bucket list to try and read everything they wrote. He was a great story teller.
"Stanton Laird, a young American geologist with a secret, comes to the Australian outback to search for oil. There he meets an unconventional farming family and falls in love with their Mollie Regan. However cultural differences between Stanton's and Mollie's worlds force the two lovers to make difficult decisions."
Newest Arrivals
(4 books added since my last update)
1. Guilt by Definition by Susie Dent (Clarendon Lexicographers #1 / 2024). Jo and I watch a humorous game show, Eight out of Ten Cats do Countdown and Susie is the resident word's expert. This is one of her first efforts at writing fiction so I thought I should check it out.
"She knew there'd be ghosts in Oxford, she just didn't think they'd make their way to the dictionary.
Oxford, England. After a decade abroad, Martha Thornhill has returned home to the city whose ancient institutions have long defined her family. But the ghosts she had thought to be at rest seem to have been waiting for her to return. When an anonymous letter is delivered to the Clarendon English Dictionary, where Martha is a newly hired senior editor, it's rapidly clear that this is not the usual lexicographical enquiry. Instead, the coded letter hints at secrets and lies linked to a particular year.
The date can mean only one the summer Martha's brilliant older sister Charlie went missing.
When more letters arrive, Martha and her team pull apart the complex clues within them, and soon, the mystery becomes ever more insistent and troubling. Because it seems Charlie had been keeping a powerful secret, and someone may be trying to lead the lexicographers towards the truth that will unravel the mystery of her disappearance. But other forces are no less desperate to keep their secrets well and truly buried, and Martha and her team must crack the codes before it's too late."
2. The Birthday of the World and Other Stories by Ursula K. Le Guin (Short Stories / 2002). Le Guin is another author on my bucket list.
"The recipient of numerous literary prizes, including the National Book Award, the Kafka Award, five Hugo Awards and five Nebula Awards, the renowned writer Ursula K. Le Guin has, in each story and novel, created a provocative, ever-evolving universe filled with diverse worlds and rich characters reminiscent of our earthly selves. Now, in The Birthday of the World, this gifted artist returns to these worlds in eight brilliant short works, including a never-before-published novella, each of which probes the essence of humanity."
3. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken (Wolves Chronicles #1 / 1962). I read and enjoyed Aiken's The Serial Garden very much. I thought I should continue to explore her work.
"Wicked wolves and a grim governess threaten Bonnie and her cousin Sylvia when Bonnie's parents leave Willoughby Chase for a sea voyage. Left in the care of the cruel Miss Slighcarp, the girls can hardly believe what is happening to their once happy home. The servants are dismissed, the furniture is sold, and Bonnie and Sylvia are sent to a prison-like orphan school. It seems as if the endless hours of drudgery will never cease.
With the help of Simon the goose boy and his flock, they escape. But how will they ever get Willoughby Chase free from the clutches of the evil Miss Slighcarp?
This new edition features an introduction by Aiken's daughter, Lizza, providing insight into the struggles Aiken--much like her heroines--had to endure before finally finishing this classic story a decade after she started writing it."
4. Dungeon Dragon Carl by Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Dragon Carl #1 / 2020). One of my Goodreads friends gave this a very high rating so I couldn't resist checking it out.
"The apocalypse will be televised!
A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible.
In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth - from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds - collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground. The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe. Only a few dare venture inside. But once you're in, you can't get out. And what's worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it's game over.
In this game, it's not about your strength or your dexterity. It's about your followers, your views. Your clout. It's about building an audience and killing those goblins with style. You can't just survive here. You gotta survive big. You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that "it" factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That's the only way to truly survive in this game - with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy. They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it's anything but a game."
So there you go, some reading ideas to get you through the rest of winter. Now I've mentioned my bucket list of authors. I'm working through this on my Blue Sky thread. If you are on Blue Sky and are interested in checking it out, here is my page. Enjoy the rest of the month. Stay safe.
