May 2026 - 1/3 of the Reading Way through the Year.

Me, figuring out my reading stats

So here we are, 35% of the year is gone by the wayside. How about a look at my challenges and how I'm doing this year so far. I'm sure you're all very excited to hear about that, eh?

Yearly Stats

Books completed: 56 (of these 56 there were 3 that I gave up on)

Pages read: 14,400 (roughly) Now, just to be accurate... well, as accurate as I can be, obviously I didn't read all of the 3 that I gave up on. But according to Goodreads, I've actually read 14,463 pages) So let's say, 14,000+ pages

Ratings: 5* - 1 book

4* (means 4.0 & 4.5 stars) - 29 books

3* (3.0 & 3.5) - 23 books

No Rating - 3 books

Favorite book so far - The Serial Garden, The Complete Armitage Family Stories by Joan Aiken (5 - stars)

Reading Challenges

1. 12 + 4 Challenge - Short Stories - Completed six books so far and currently reading The Golden Ball and Other Stories by Agatha Christie.

2. 12 + 4 Challenge - Graphic Novels. Challenge completed 12 April. Favorite book Botticelli's Apprentice by Ursula Murray Husted (4.5 stars).

3. 12 + 4 Challenge - Shiny New Books. Completed 5 books. Currently reading The Sundial by Shirley Jackson.

4. 12 + 4 Challenge - Dusty Books. Completed 5 books. Currently reading Skeleton Key by Jane Haddam.

5. Individual Challenges (Dusty Books, #17 - 416 from my Goodreads TBR list). Completed 4, one DNF and currently reading All the Tea in China by Kyril Bonfiglioli.

6. Individual Challenges (Middle Books, #417 - 832). Completed two and had two DNF's, probably my least successful challenge so far. Currently reading A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab.

7. Individual Challenges (Newest Purchases #833 - 1263). Completed 15, reading 3, Assassin's Code by Jonathan Maberry, Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker & The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken.

8. 12 + 4 Challenge (My latest, books around 200 pages) Currently reading Police at the Funeral by Margery Allingham.

There is my reading an updated challenge list. Four new books have arrived since my last update so I'll include those in this post as well.

Newest Books

1. All in her Head; The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught us About Women's Bodies and Why it Matters Today by Elizabeth Comen (Non Fiction / 2024).

"The fascinating history of women’s health as it’s never been told before.

For as long as medicine has been a practice, women's bodies have been treated like objects to be practiced on: examined and ignored, idealized and sexualized, shamed, subjugated, mutilated, and dismissed. The history of women’s healthcare is a story in which women themselves have too often been voiceless—a narrative instead written from the perspective of men who styled themselves as authorities on the female of the species, yet uninformed by women’s own voices, thoughts, fears, pain and experiences. The result is a cultural and societal legacy that continues to shape the (mis)treatment and care of women.

While the modern age has seen significant advancements in the medical field, the notion that female bodies are flawed inversions of the male ideal lingers on—as do the pervasive societal stigmas and lingering ignorance that shape women’s health and relationships with their own bodies.

Memorial Sloan Kettering oncologist and medical historian Dr. Elizabeth Comen peels back the curtain on the collective medical history of women to reintroduce us to our whole bodies—how they work, the actual doctors and patients whose perspectives and experiences laid the foundation for today’s medical thought, and the many oversights that still remain unaddressed. With a physician’s knowledge and empathy, Dr. Comen follows the road map of the eleven organ systems to share unique and untold stories, drawing upon medical texts and journals, interviews with expert physicians, as well as her own experience treating thousands of women.

Empowering women to better understand ourselves and advocate for care that prioritizes healthy and joyful lives—for us and generations to come—All in Her Head is written with humor, wisdom, and deep scientific and cultural insight. Eye-opening, sometimes enraging, yet always captivating, this shared memoir of women’s medical history is an essential contribution to a holistic understanding and much-needed reclaiming of women’s history and bodies."

2. A Cat Story, a Graphic Novel by Ursula Murray Husted (YA / 2020).

"A graphic novel about two irresistible cat friends on a journey to find their forever home—a journey inspired by the magic of art and storytelling.

Cilla and Betto are two friends who need a place to call home. The docks in Valletta are too wet, and the scraps of food too scarce. The city’s streets are too busy, and the humans too unreliable.

But what about the quiet garden from old kitten tales—a place where all cats are welcome, and the humans are always kind? Could the stories really be true?

As Cilla and Betto embark on a grand adventure to find out, they begin to spin a tale of their own—one that will take them through the art and stories of many journeyers who came before, and that will bring them to a surprising destination."

3. Three Bengal Kittens by Philipp Schott (Dr. Bannerman #4 / 2026).

"With his sniffer dog, Pippin, Dr. Peter Bannerman uncovers suspects, treats animals, tracks a kitten kidnapper, and must solve a locked-room mystery.<?b>

In the fourth book in the series, Dr. Peter Bannerman’s brother Sam takes in three Bengal kittens after the previous owner, his neighbor in a Winnipeg north end apartment building, is found dead. The death was originally thought to be due to accidental autoerotic asphyxiation, but after investigation, Sam is arrested and charged with his neighbor’s murder.

Sam suffers from several mental health conditions, but Peter refuses to believe that he is capable of killing someone, so he sets out to prove his innocence. Sam, however, is more concerned about one of the kittens who has gone missing. With the help of his talented sniffer dog, Pippin, Peter tries to find the kitten, as well as evidence that someone else murdered the neighbor.

Peter talks to the other people in Sam’s building, and several appear to be plausible alternative killers. However, by that time Sam, still in custody, begins to rave about ghosts being the real murderers and insists Peter investigate that. Despite not believing in ghosts (not in the slightest), he has a terrifying experience while spending the night in Sam’s apartment.

The situation rapidly spirals, putting Peter and Pippin in peril and ultimately revealing a story of revenge served cold from decades ago and continents away."

4. When the Forest Breathes; Renewal and Resilience in the Natural World by Suzanne Simard (Non Fiction / 2026).

"The trailblazing scientist who pioneered the concept of sophisticated communication between trees returns with a book that places nature’s own cycles of renewal at the center of a powerful vision for the future of our forests

With her bestselling book Finding the Mother Tree, forest ecologist Suzanne Simard introduced the world to the profound intelligence and interconnectedness of trees. Now, with When the Forest Breathes, she uncovers the ways that nature’s deep-rooted cycles of renewal can ensure the longevity of threatened ecosystems.

Raised in a family of loggers committed to sensible forest stewardship, Simard has watched as timber companies leave forests at higher risk for wildfires, water crises, and plant and animal extinction. But her research has the potential to chart a new course. The forest, she reveals, is a symphony of finely honed cycles of regeneration—from mushrooms breaking down logs to dying elder trees passing their genetic knowledge to younger ones—that hold the key to protecting our forests. Working closely with local Indigenous communities, whose models of responsible forestry have been largely dismissed, Simard examines how human interventions—particularly destruction of the overstory's mother trees—endanger new growth and longevity. If we can honor the tools that trees have honed for sharing intergenerational wisdom, she argues, we can protect these sacred places for many years to come.

As she considers how older living things facilitate the conditions for new growth to flourish, Simard faces parallel rhythms of loss and regeneration in her own life, watching her two daughters grow into adults and savoring her final days with her ailing mother. Animated by wonder for our forests and the intricate practices of caretaking that have long sustained them, When the Forest Breathes is a vital reminder of all the natural world has to teach us about adaptability, resilience, and community."

So there you go folks. Enjoy your May selections and the rest of 2026.

A Much Needed Reading Update.... Right??

My last actual reading update was 12 April and since then I've posted some poems by Mary Oliver and then some new books from my last Rotary Club Book Sale. So time for my normal update; books read, books started and any new books received. 1, 2, 3.....and we're off and running

Books Completed (since last update)

1. The Antifa Comic Book: Revised and Expanded by Gord Hill (2025). I think I may need to do a political / philosophical type post on books I've read and plan to read in a future post)

"For some reason, since about 2016, I've found myself getting more political, even to donating to Canadian political parties and other groups. Anyway, I'm also getting more interested in exploring issues like tyranny, fascism, etc. When I saw a listing for The Antifa Comic Book: Revised and Expanded (and I don't know where I saw it) by Canadian indigenous author, Gord Hill, I thought I should check it out. It ended up being a succinct, clearly presented historical perspective of both fascism in the world and those forces trying to combat its influence and search for power.

The comic book starts off with a definition of fascism -

- an ideology the promotes a strong, centralized state under the command of a supreme leader (often a cult of personality)

- fascist movements are authoritarian and militaristic, often with a paramilitary force

- ultra nationalistic in nature & inherently racist

- an imperialistic world view

- predominantly anti semitic

- all aspects of society are regimented and all opposition violently repressed

- media, entertainment & educational / cultural institutions replaced with fascist views

- cult of personality is strengthened & the entire state apparatus becomes almost mystical.

Antifa  is an abbreviation of antifaschistische aktion, originally set up by by the German Communist party in 1932 to oppose the Nazis.

The book offers a historical perspective of the birth and rise of both groups, starting after WWI, especially in Germany and Italy. But it goes from country to county over the years, from those in Europe to North America and even in the Middle East. It doesn't go into tons of detail but the points it highlights are clear and concise.

As the updated book progresses, it moves along to current time, with fascist organizations throughout the world. I found it particularly interesting the portions on Britain. My wife, who is British, probably remembers this time, but the battles between right wing fascists (skinheads and white supremacists) and the left wing, trying to protect immigrant communities. 

I especially found how much the police forces & governments focused on protecting these right wing groups from attacks by those defending their countries from them. I also found it interesting how the anti Semitism (which is still a major focus) has also moved along to anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant biases. There is a chapter on Israeli Zionist actions, to create a Zionistic Middle East expanded country. The book ends with the current American administration's right wing tendencies. 

The final sentence leaves hope, maybe "This resistance will only increase in the future.... and the future is unwritten." An interesting book, at the very least. Food for thought (4.0 stars)"

2. Dark Benediction by Walter M. Miller Jr. (Short Stories / 1980).

"Dark Benediction is a collection of Sci Fi short stories by Walter M. Miller Jr. who also wrote A Canticle for Leibowitz, a book I read back in my university days. Dark Benediction contains 14 stories published between 1951 - 1957.

The stories cover topics from a child who suffers from a rare disease where he can't grow (but what else is there about him?); an alien invasion (stopped by a woman with a shot gun?); a man trying to save Mars' atmosphere; an over-populated Earth that stops births and instead develops childlike creatures to be raised by families; an aging actor who now cleans a cinema / playhouse that shows plays with robot actors but who wants a final bow; a plague that cause people to go insane and one man's journey to escape; workers on the Moon who are visited by a traveling whore house and the effect; and a Russian woman who is assigned to kill the American general in charge of the invasion of Russia, etc.

All in all, I enjoyed the stories. Some seemed a mite long but I think that's Miller's writing style. He paints interesting pictures of the setting, characters and stories. Dark Benediction was a particular favorite and I also enjoyed The Darfsteller and Conditionally Human but each had its own merits. Worth checking out, especially if you've tried Canticle before and you want to explore Miller's writing some more. (3.5 stars)"

3. Montgomery Schnauzer P.I. & the Callous Car Thieves by Timothy Forner (Monty Schnauzer #2 / 2025).

"This might sound silly but when I heard of this book series (Montgomery Schnauzer PI), it made me think of the 4 puppies, miniature schnauzers, that my wife and I have had as companions over the past many years. We lost our last one a year ago and we both miss Clyde terribly. Anyway, I had to check out this series, a children's book series, because the main character was, of course, a schnauzer.

Go Monty!!

Montgomery Schnauzer P.I. and the Callous Car Thieves is the 2nd book in the series by American author, Timothy Forner. There are currently two books in the series, but Monty's dad indicates there is a 3rd book on the way. I read the 2nd book first because it was easier to get a copy. #1 is now on the way. 🐶

So Monty lives in an unnamed city with his Momma, Sarah. Sarah is struggling, as her old beater of a car breaks down on the highway. She needs a car to get to work and discovers a nice little fancy car for sale on line. Walter, the salesman, says he'll accept Sarah's offer and Sarah now has a newer, sportier car.

But..... the next day, Sarah and Monty are arrested by the police for driving a stolen car. Sarah is taken to the police station and booked and Monty is taken to the pound. Monty is desperate to find Sara and also prove that she didn't steal the car. With the help of another dog, he breaks out of the pound and finds his way back to the car dealer.. but everybody is gone and it's shut down.

Over the course of the book, Monty continues to try and discover where the car thieves are and along the way he meets new friends and has lots of adventures. I won't tell you any more about the story, just to say, it's fun and adventure filled. Monty is a smart dog, frustrated that he can't get the 'humans' to understand what he is saying, but always managing to move his investigation along, ultimately to a satisfactory conclusion. The cover art and the interior drawings are all excellent and the story is fun for adults and should be entertaining for kids. Go Monty! (3.5 stars)"

Currently Reading (started since last update)

1. The Golden Ball and Other Stories by Agatha Christie (Short Stories / 1971). 

"Is it a gesture of good will or a sinister trap that lures Rupert St. Vincent and his family to magnificent estate? How desperate is Joyce Lambert, a destitute young widow whose only recourse is to marry a man she despises? What unexpected circumstance stirs old loyalties in Theodora Darrell, and unfaithful wife about to run away with her lover? In this collection of short stories, the answers are as unexpected as they are satisfying. The Queen of Crime takes bizarre romantic entanglements, supernatural visitations, and classic murder to inventive new heights."

2. Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker (Horror / 2026). I follow a few podcasts on YouTube by folks who talk about books. A few had advance copies of this book and ranked it very highly so I put in an order for it and received it yesterday. Enjoying thus far.

"In this lyrical, wildly inventive horror novel interwoven with Japanese mythology, two people living centuries apart discover a door between their worlds.

October, 2026: Lee Turner doesn’t remember how or why he killed his college roommate. The details are blurred and bloody. All he knows is he has to flee New York and go to the one place that might offer refuge—his father’s new home in Japan, a house hidden by sword ferns and wild ginger. But something is terribly wrong with the house: no animals will come near it, the bedroom window isn't always a window, and a woman with a sword appears in the yard when night falls.

October, 1877: Sen is a young samurai in exile, hiding from the imperial soldiers in a house behind the sword ferns. A monster came home from war wearing her father’s face, but Sen would do anything to please him, even turn her sword on her own mother. She knows the soldiers will soon slaughter her whole family when she sees a terrible omen: a young foreign man who appears outside her window.

One of these people is a ghost, and one of these stories is a lie.

Something is hiding beneath the house of sword ferns, and Lee and Sen will soon wish they never unburied it."

Newest Arrivals (yes... since my last update)

1. Gideon Falls, Vol. 2, Original Sins by Jeff Lemire (2019).

"The lives of a reclusive young man obsessed with a conspiracy in the city's trash, and a washed up Catholic Priest arriving in a small town full of dark secrets become dangerously intertwined around the mysterious legend of The Black Barn -- an otherworldly building that is alleged to have appeared in both the city and the small town, throughout history, leaving death and madness in its wake."

2. Modem Times 2.0 by Michael Moorcock (2011).

"Jerry Cornelius—Michael Moorcock’s fictional audacious assassin, rockstar, chronospy, and possible Messiah—is featured in the first of two stories in this fifth installment of the Outspoken Author series. Previously unpublished, the first story is an odyssey through time from London in the 1960s to America during the years following Barack Obama's presidency. The second piece is a political, confrontational, comical, nonfiction tale in the style of Jonathan Swift and George Orwell. An interview with the author rounds out this biting, satirical, sci-fi collection."

3. Seeing by Jose Saramago (2004). This is a sequel to Saramago's Blindness.

"On election day in the capital, it is raining so hard that no one has bothered to go out to vote. The politicians are growing jittery. Should they reschedule the elections for another day? Around three o' clock, the rain finally stops. Promptly at four, voters rush to the polling stations, as if they had been ordered to appear.

But when the ballots are counted, more than 70 percent are blank. The citizens are rebellious. A state of emergency is declared. But are the authorities acting too precipitously? Or even blindly? The word evokes terrible memories of the plague of blindness that hit the city four years before, and of the one woman who kept her sight. Could she be behind the blank ballots? A police superintendent is put on the case.

What begins as a satire on governments and the sometimes dubious efficacy of the democratic system turns into something far more sinister. A singular novel from the author of Blindness."

4. You Will Not Kill Our Imagination: A Memoir of Palestine and Writing in Dark Times by Saeed Teebi (2025). New in my local book store, it sounded interesting and is a topic I've been exploring.

"A vital, fearless memoir in the vein of Between the World and Me that explores what it means to be a Palestinian in this moment, the effects of the genocide on Palestinian art and imagination, and that to even claim a belonging to the land from a country thousands of miles away is an act of subversion.

Imagination is a more powerful force than hope.

Acclaimed author Saeed Teebi was at work on his first novel when the attacks on Gaza began in late 2023. The violence and cruelty of the attacks, accompanied by the assent and silence of international governments, stunned many across the globe, like Teebi, into a new state of permanent horror.

What does it mean to be of the Palestinian diaspora in such a moment? What does it mean to be of a people who have sustained such a large-scale assault not only on their homeland, but their entire identity? What is the role of art, of language—of imagination—in asserting one’s identity, when that very assertion is read as an act of subversion?

In this incisive work, Teebi explores, with searing, razor-sharp prose, the effects of genocide on the bodies, minds, and imaginations—of Palestinians especially, and humanity in general.

This is at once a memoir of one family’s displacement, a scathing indictment of global complicity in the face of brutality, and a profound rumination on art and imagination as a means of defiance. It is an astonishing work of resistance by a major intellect, and it is both urgent and timeless."

5. Y:  The Last Man, Ring of Truth by Brian K. Vaughan (Vol. 5 / 2005).

"Yorick Brown, the last man on Earth, finally makes it to San Francisco where his unbalanced sister, Hero, finds him seemingly succumbing to the male-killing plague after losing his still-unused engagement ring to the burqa-clad agents of the Setauket Ring. But is the ring really the key to his survival? And what does it have to do with the mysterious Amulet of Helene, which the Setauket leader is determined to take from Agent 355 by any means necessary. Collects issues #24-31."

There you go. All caught up once again. Jo and I will be starting our weekend by taking her to a chemo session this afternoon and I hope to get more yard work done this weekend pending our sprinkler guy coming to turn us on for the year. :) Enjoy your weekend!

A Rotary Club Book Sale Visit

Yesterday I took an hour and went to see if there were any books that interested me at the local Rotary Club Book Sale. This time I started in the Sci Fi / Fantasy section. It's usually at the end of the visit because it's by the cash register, so I started there this time. I figured I wouldn't be too tired this way. Anyway, I did find a few books.

New Books

1. Mammoths of the Great Plains by Eleanor Arnason (Alternate History / 2010)

"Shaggy herds of mammoths still roam the Great Plains--to the delight of President Thomas Jefferson--in this imaginative alternative history in which the beasts thunder over the grasslands as living symbols of the oncoming struggle between the Native peoples and the European invaders. This unforgettable saga soars from the Badlands of the Dakota Territory to the icy wastes of Siberia, from the Russian Revolution to the American Indian Movement protests of the 1960s and one woman’s attempt to harness DNA science to fulfill the ancient promises of her Lakota heritage. In addition, this volume includes the essay “Writing During World War Three,” a politically incorrect take on multiculturalism from a science fiction point of view and an outspoken interview with the writer of some of today’s edgiest and most uncompromising speculative fiction."

2. Sick Heart River by John Buchan (Leithen #5 / 1941). I'm enjoying exploring Buchan's work.

"Sir Edward Leithen is in London when he is diagnosed with tuberculosis and told that he has a year to live. Initially unsure of how to live out his remaining days, Leithen is unexpectedly given an opportunity to help search for a missing man in the Canadian north. Accepting the task, Leithen embarks on a physical and spiritual journey that helps him come to terms with his life, death, and legacy. John Buchan is most widely known for his adventure novels, such as those featuring the spy Richard Hannay. The spiritually poignant Sick Heart River is a departure from Buchan’s usual themes, even more so because it was the last book he wrote, and was published posthumously after his accidental death in 1940. The main character, Edward Leithen, had appeared in several other, more lighthearted books of Buchan’s, including The Power-House and John Macnab . Harper Perennial Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in eBook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the Harper Perennial Classics collection to build your digital library."

3. For Us, The Living by Robert Heinlein (Sci Fi / 2003). It's been quite awhile since I tried anything by Heinlein.

"July 12, 1939 Perry Nelson is driving along the palisades when suddenly another vehicle swerves into his lane, a tire blows out, and his car careens off the road and over a bluff. The last thing he sees before his head connects with the boulders below is a girl in a green bathing suit, prancing along the shore....

When he wakes, the girl in green is a woman dressed in furs and the sun-drenched shore has transformed into snowcapped mountains. The woman, Diana, rescues Perry from the bitter cold and takes him inside her home to rest and recuperate.
Later they debate the cause of the accident, for Diana is unfamiliar with the concept of a tire blowout and Perry cannot comprehend snowfall in mid-July. Then Diana shares with him a vital piece of The date is now January 7. The year...2086.

When his shock subsides, Perry begins an exhaustive study of global evolution over the past 150 years. He learns, among other things, that a United Europe was formed and led by Edward, Duke of Windsor; former New York City mayor LaGuardia served two terms as president of the United States; the military draft was completely reconceived; banks became publicly owned and operated; and in the year 2003, two helicopters destroyed the island of Manhattan in a galvanizing act of war. This education in the ways of the modern world emboldens Perry to assimilate to life in the twenty-first century.

But education brings with it inescapable truths -- the economic and legal systems, the government, and even the dynamic between men and women remain alien to Perry, the customs of the new day continually testing his mental and emotional resolve. Yet it is precisely his knowledge of a bygone era that will serve Perry best, as the man from 1939 seems destined to lead his newfound peers even further into the future than they could have imagined."

4. Haunted by James Herbert (Hor / 1988). I've really come to enjoy his horror stories.

"James Herbert's Haunted is the first chilling novel in the David Ash trilogy.

Three nights of terror at the house called Edbrook.

Three nights in which David Ash, there to investigate a haunting, will be victim of horrifying and maleficent games.

Three nights in which he will face the blood-chilling enigma of his own past.

Three nights before Edbrook's dreadful secret will be revealed, and the true nightmare will begin . . ."

5. Factoring Humanity by Robert J. Sawyer (Sci Fi / 1998). I've read one book by Sawyer so far and really enjoyed it.

"In the near future, a signal is detected coming from the Alpha Centauri system. Mysterious, unintelligible data streams in for ten years. Heather Davis, a professor in the University of Toronto psychology department, has devoted her career to deciphering the message. Her estranged husband, Kyle, is working on the development of artificial intelligence systems and new computer technology utilizing quantum effects to produce a near-infinite number of calculations simultaneously.

When Heather achieves a breakthrough, the message reveals a startling new technology that rips the barriers of space and time, holding the promise of a new stage of human evolution. In concert with Kyle's discoveries of the nature of consciousness, the key to limitless exploration---or the end of the human race---appears close at hand."

6. A Wild Light by Marjorie M. Liu (Hunter Kiss #3 / Fantasy / 2010). I've been really enjoying Liu's Monstress graphic novel series but it's winding down. I was pleasantly surprised to see she's also written novels. I'll have to get the 1st book in the series.

"For too long Maxine Kiss has felt an inexplicable darkness inside her-a force she channels into hunting the demons bent on destroying the human race. But when she finds herself covered in blood and crouched beside her grandfather's dead body with no memory of what happened, Maxine begins to fear that the darkness has finally consumed her."

7. Why Call Them Back From Heaven? by Clifford D. Simak (Sci Fi / 1967). I don't always like his stories but for some reason, I'm hooked on exploring Simak more.

"Immortality - The ultimate To come back to life - and never die again - that's what Forever Center promises the human race. And that's why, in the year 2148, people spend their whole lives in poverty, giving all their money to Forever Center to ensure their happiness and comfort in the next eternal life.

Daniel Frost is a key man at Forever Center. When he accidentally stumbles onto some classified documents, Dan incurs the wrath of an unseen enemy who has him framed and denounced as a social outcast. With the notorious mark of ostracization on his forehead, he is condemned to the desperate life of a hunted animal. But a few people will risk their lives to help Ann Harrison, the beautiful renegade lawyer who is convinced of his innocence, and Mona Campbell, the brilliant mathematician who has discovered some shattering information about Forever Center...and the essence of life itself."

8. Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson (Historical Fiction / 2002) I do hope to eventually read everything by Atkinson.

"1926, and in a country still recovering from the Great War, London has become the focus for a delirious new nightlife. In the clubs of Soho, peers of the realm rub shoulders with starlets, foreign dignitaries with gangsters, and girls sell dances for a shilling a time.  

 
The notorious queen of this glittering world is Nellie Coker, ruthless but also ambitious to advance her six children, including the enigmatic eldest, Niven, whose character has been forged in the crucible of the Somme. But success breeds enemies, and Nellie’s empire faces threats from without and within. For beneath the dazzle of Soho’s gaiety, there is a dark underbelly, a world in which it is all too easy to become lost.
 
With her unique Dickensian flair, Kate Atkinson gives us a window in a vanished world. Slyly funny, brilliantly observant, and ingeniously plotted, showcases the myriad talents that have made Atkinson one of the most lauded writers of our time."

9. The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu (Three Body Problem #2 / 2008). I have yet to read the 1st book, but I hear such great things about this one.

"Time is running out for humanity in The Dark Forest, the stunning sequel to Cixin Liu's award-winning and bestselling masterpiece The Three-Body Problem.

Earth is still reeling from the revelation of a coming alien invasion. The aliens' human collaborators may have been defeated, but the presence of the sophons, the subatomic particles that allow Trisolaris instant access to all human information, means that Earth's defense plans are totally exposed to the enemy. Only the human mind remains a secret. This is the motivation for the Wallfacer Project, a daring plan that grants four people enormous resources to design secret strategies, hidden through deceit and misdirection from Earth and Trisolaris alike. Three of the Wallfacers are influential statesmen and scientists, but the fourth is a total unknown. Luo Ji, an unambitious Chinese astronomer and sociologist, is baffled by his new status. All he knows is that he's the one Wallfacer that Trisolaris wants dead.

The Dark Forest continues Cixin Liu's ground-breaking saga of incredible scope and vision."

10. Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi (Fuzzy Sapiens #7 / 2011) Back in my university days, I enjoyed the 1st 3 books in this series, by H. Beam Piper. It seems that it's been continued by other authors.

"Zara Corp holds the right to extract unlimited resources from the verdant planet Zarathustra―as long as the planet is certifiably free of native sentients. So when an outback prospector discovers a species of small, appealing bipeds who might well turn out to be intelligent, language-using beings, it's a race to stop the corporation from "eliminating the problem," which is to say, eliminating the Fuzzies―wide-eyed and ridiculously cute small, and furry―who are as much people as we are."

There you go.. Enjoy your week, folks!

Some Poems

Some poetry books

I've said it many times but I'll say it again. My relationship with Poetry is a difficult one. I keep trying to read poetry, have quite a few books of poetry gracing my bookshelves. But I generally find that, as much as I try, I don't know that I get it. Some poems have hit me, have caused an emotional reaction, but I often go through pages and my reaction is 'that's pretty, but whatever'. I think I'm getting better at grasping a poet's thoughts and ideas as I get older and I will definitely keep exploring the genre.

This picture was from Dec 2023 and the shelf has been updated since, but this contains 3 books by Dorothy Parker and one by Ursula K. Le Guin. The other books are fiction. Since then I've added a few others; more Le Guin, Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, etc. If you start at the front page of my Blog, you should be able to find links to my reviews and such under the Poetry heading (down the right side of the page).

Devotions by Mary Oliver

Anyway, to the point of this post. I've begun reading Devotions by Mary Oliver, a collection of her poetry from her various published works. This is my first attempt at her work and I have to say she writes beautifully. As I was lying in bed this morning, a couple of them struck me and I thought I'd share, if you don't mine. One makes me think of the current sit south of the border, even though it was written in 2008. The other made me think of myself, especially since I also am 70. I might add a poem dealing with dogs, but it might make me a bit sad.

Of the Empire

We will be known as a culture that feared death

and adored power, that tried to vanquish insecurity

for the few and cared little for the penury of the

many. We will be known as a culture that taught

and rewarded the amassing of things, that spoke

little if at all about the quality of life for

people (other people), for dogs, for rivers. All

the world, in our eyes, they will say, was a 

commodity. And they will say that this structure

was held together politically, which it was, and

the will say also that our politics was no more

than an apparatus to accommodate the feelings of

 the heart, and that the heart, in those days,

was small, and hard, and full of meanness."

Self-Portrait

I wish I was twenty and in love with life

  and still full of beans.

Onward, old legs!

There are the long, pale dunes; on the other side

the roses are blooming and finding their labor

no adversity to the spirit.

Upward, old legs! There are the roses, and there is the sea

shining like a song, like a body

I want to touch

though I'm not twenty

and won't be again by ah! sevennty. And still

in love with life. And still

full of beans.

And now two poems from Dog Songs (2013)

Little Dog's Rhapsody in the Night (Percy Three)

He puts his cheek against mine

and makes small, expressive sounds.

And when I'm awake, or awake enough

he turns upside down, his four paws

  in the air

an his eyes dark and fervent.

Tell me you love me, he says.

Tell me again.

Could there be a sweeter arrangement? Ove and over

he gets to ask it.

I get to tell.

The First Time Percy Came Back

The first time Percy cane back

he was not sailing on a cloud.

He was loping along the sand as though

he cad come a great way.

"Percy," I cried out, and reached to him -

   those white curls -

but he was unreachable. As music

is present yet you can't touch it.

"Yes, it's all different," he said.

"You're going to be very surprised."

But I wasn't thinking of that. I only

wanted to hold him. "Listen," he said,

"I miss that too.

And now you'll be telling stories

   of my coming back

and they won't be false, and they won't be true,

but they'll be real."

And then, as he used to, he said, "Let's go!"

And we walked down the beach together.

... sometimes poems do work, eh?

A Reading Update for Almost mid-April 2026

It's so nice to be back at our home in the Valley. Jo is still adjusting after a month of radiation treatment. At the moment she's having an early afternoon nap. Still appointments and chemo to follow but that is all here. So far only a couple of appts with doc's back in Victoria and that's not until Juneish. I guess I have no excuses not to get some yard work done.. And maybe give the car a nice treat by washing it. It was so good on our weekly trips back and forth between Victoria and here.

While she's having and before I head upstairs to sort some laundry, here is my latest reading update.

Completed Books (since my last update)

1. American Gods, Vol. 1, Shadows by Neil Gaiman (Graphic novel / 2018).

"I read the novel version of American Gods back in 2017. I watched some of the TV series about it when it came out. So when I saw American Gods, Vol. 1: Shadows by Neil Gaiman I thought I'd give it a try. 

Yeah, it was as good as the others and it follows Shadow as far as his visit to the funeral parlor with Mr. Ibis. It was all very familiar and there wasn't anything really new from the book but the artwork was excellent. 

Will I buy the other graphic novels if they come out... probably not... After I bought a number of Gaiman's books / graphic novels, I began to read about disturbing allegations about him and I did get rid of a few of the books I'd purchased but I did keep this and read it anyway. (Gaiman has denied the allegations...) I have a book on the Art of Neil Gaiman but it's by someone else, so how does that fit in?  Anyway, 3.5 stars...."

2. Brzrkr, Vol. 2 by Keanu Reeves (Graphic / 2021).

"It's been too long between the first graphic novel in the Brzrkr franchise and BRZRKR, Volume 2 by actor Keanu Reeves. That's not a good or bad thing, it's just chronology.

It was relatively easy to get back into the flow of the story. B is a sort of half mortal, half god who has lived for thousands of years. He remembers his mother but not his father. He has managed to stay 'hidden' by always joining armies and fighting in their midst.

B is now the subject of experiments by some organization who wants to find the source of his original power. They've been examining him and conducting experiments and the leader (although the 'leader' seems to be followed around by a floating orb that may in fact be his boss) is getting frustrated because B can remember some things, but not enough. The boss wants to conduct Project X, which as I understand it, means burying him in a hole deep in the ground and forcing B to use his power to escape and then they will somehow follow the energy to B's beginning??

Suffice it to say it's an ok story, confusing somewhat and I hope #3 provides more of an explanation. I hope so as I believe it's the final in the series. It's ok, the artwork is good. I'm just waiting for it to go somewhere. (3.0 stars)"

3. Y: The Last Man, Vol. 3, One Small Step by Brian K. Vaughan (Graphic / 2004). This completes one of my reading challenges for 2026, a graphic novel one. I've since laid out one more.

"I enjoy exploring the world of graphic novels and have especially enjoyed the work of Brian K. Vaughan; Saga and The Paper Girls. But I think so far that I've been enjoying Y: The Last Man, the most. I just finished Y: The Last Man, Vol. 3: One Small Step and it was excellent, a page turner.

I love the characters. I think the art work is beautiful and the story is so fantastic. As a bit of a recap, something (a plague, maybe) has destroyed every creature on earth with a Y chromosome. So there are no men left (I write that, gritting my teeth in despair). However, it seems that it wasn't perfect. There two men left. Yorick a part-time somewhat successful magician and his pet monkey, Ampersand. 

Women for all over are either trying to kill Yorick, to get him to start the world over again, or to protect him until 'they' (the big They) can discover what caused all males to die. Yorick, a special agent named 355 (she works for the president) and a geneticist, are heading to her lab in San Francisco to conduct tests on Yorick. Yorick's mother, another politician, wants him brought back to her so she hires an Israeli special ops team to get him. Of course they have their own plans.

In this volume, we are introduced to a Russian agent, Natalya, who has come to the US because a Soyuz space ship is supposed to land in Nebraska, bringing a Russian cosmonaut (male) and two American astronauts (one male, one female) as the crew. She is to return the cosmonaut back to Russia. The group decides to work together. They plan to bring the crew to a top secret installation, with  a 'safe room' where the men can be kept safe until the cause of the plague can be discovered and hopefully eradicated. The Israelis have different plans of course.

So much is going on and it's so beautifully presented. But I won't tell you any more because you need to read it. At the end of this chapter, there is a 2nd small story about a wandering minstrel show, made up of women who go from town to town presenting plays. It's a neat little story and it seems our team meets up with the... at least the monkey does.

It's just such an entertaining, well crafted and drawn story. I can't wait to see what happens next. Check it out. (4.0 stars)"

4. Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum #11 / 2005).

"You always know what you're going to get with a Stephanie Plum mystery. Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich, the 11th book was no exception. 

Things you expect - Sexual tensions between Stephanie, her boyfriend Morelli and also her mysterious friend, Ranger; Humor; fun and games with Grandma Plum (especially at funeral viewings); more fun and games with her ex hooker pal, Lula, exploding cars (mostly those belonging to Stephanie, and an interesting action-filled story. 

What was new in this one - Stephanie, trying to sort out her life, decides to quit being a bounty hunter and turns her badge back in to Vinnie, her cousin. Someone is sending Stephanie threatening notes and people keep dying or being injured around her.

Stephanie is trying to find a new career, trying to discover who is trying to kill her, also helping with her sister, Valerie's wedding plans. This is not going well. Stephanie's dress will be eggplant purple. She lied and told them she had played the cello and now is expected to play at the wedding. And she is looking after Morelli, who was one of the victim's of Stephanie's stalker.

It's all fun and games and sexiness. I've always thought that Stephanie Plum is one of the sexiest protagonists in fiction and she's got two sexy men in her life. Decisions, decisions for poor Steph. The story moves along nicely, Trenton NJ has to survive her and Lula as they chase down bail bonds defaulters (Yes, even though she has quit, she still assists Lula) and will Valerie's wedding be a success? Check it out. (3.5 stars)"

Currently Reading (since last update)

1. Police at the Funeral by Margery Allingham (Albert Campion #4 / 1931). This is the 1st book in my new reading challenge.

"Starring Albert Campion, bland, blue-eyed, deceptively vague professional adventurer, and Great Aunt Caroline, that formidable and exquisite old lady, ruling an ancient household heavy with evil. Uncle Andrew is dead, shot through the head. Cousin George, the black sheep, is skulking round corners. Aunt Julia is poisoned, Uncle William attacked. And terror invades an old Cambridge residence. (Publisher’s description)"

2. Skeleton Key by Jane Haddam (Gregor Demarkian #16 / 2000).

"When writer and ex-deb Bennis Hannaford discovers the body of super-heiress Kayla Anson in the family garage, her visit to Litchfield County, Connecticut, is reluctantly extended. Bennis's hostess, Margaret Anson, presents an icy version of the grieving mother, cut out her late husband's will--until now. And when Gregor Demarkian, ex-FBI man and Bennis's lover, arrives from Philadelphia to consult with local police, a media blitz storms in as more suspects crawl out of the woods.

Kayla may have been too blindingly rich for her wild, private school chum; her older, socially ambitious entrepreneur boyfriend; and a divorced, downsized bookkeeper selling her furniture to survive. As Gregor maps out distances, location, and motives, Halloween descends on the dark, silent hills. From a skeleton sprawled on the cemetery caretakers' porch to more deadly mischief and mayhem, the countryside is brimming with secrets. And a killer is about to strike again..."

Recent Additions

3 books arrived in the mail while we were in Victoria and I plucked one out of my Little Free Library that looked interesting.

1. All Flesh is Grass by Clifford D. Simak (Sci Fi / 1965).

"Long before Under the Dome , this novel of a town trapped within an invisible force field earned a Nebula Award nomination for the author of Way Station .

Nothing much ever happens in Millville, a small, secluded Middle-American community—until the day Brad Carter discovers he is unable to leave. And the nearly bankrupt real estate agent is not the only one being held prisoner; every resident is confined within the town’s boundaries by an invisible force field that cannot be breached. As local tensions rapidly reach breaking point, a set of bizarre circumstances leads Brad to the source of their captivity, making him humanity’s reluctant ambassador to an alien race of sentient flora, and privy to these jailers’ ultimate intentions. But some of Millville’s most powerful citizens do not take kindly to Carter’s “collaboration with the enemy,” even under the sudden threat of global apocalypse.
 
Decades before Stephen King trapped an entire town in Under the Dome , science fiction Grand Master Clifford D. Simak explored the shocking effects of communal captivity on an unsuspecting population. Nominated for the Nebula Award, All Flesh Is Grass is a riveting masterwork that brilliantly reinvents the alien invasion story."

2. Fire on the Mountain by Terry Bisson (Alt Hist / 1988).

"Presenting an alternative version of African American history, this novel explores what might have happened if John Brown’s 1859 raid on Harper’s Ferry had been successful. Chronicling life in a thriving black nation founded by Brown in the former southeastern United States, this dramatic story opens 100 years later, just as Nova Africa is poised to celebrate its first landing of a spacecraft on Mars. The prosperous black state will soon be tested when the granddaughter of John Brown returns from Africa to reunite with her daughter and share with her a secret that will alter their lives forever."

3. Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin (Historical Fiction / 2008).

"In The Aeneid, Vergil’s hero fights to claim the king’s daughter, Lavinia, with whom he is destined to found an empire. Lavinia herself never speaks a word. Now, Ursula K. Le Guin gives Lavinia a voice in a novel that takes us to the half-wild world of ancient Italy, when Rome was a muddy village near seven hills.

Lavinia grows up knowing nothing but peace and freedom, until suitors come. Her mother wants her to marry handsome, ambitious Turnus. But omens and prophecies spoken by the sacred springs say she must marry a foreigner—that she will be the cause of a bitter war—and that her husband will not live long. When a fleet of Trojan ships sails up the Tiber, Lavinia decides to take her destiny into her own hands. And so she tells us what Vergil did not: the story of her life, and of the love of her life.

Lavinia is a book of passion and war, generous and austerely beautiful, from a writer working at the height of her powers."

3. The Wild Shore by Kim Stanley Robinson (Three Californias #1 / 1984).

"Seventeen-year-old Henry wanted to help make America great again, like it had been sixty years ago, before all the bombs went off. But for the people of Onofre Valley, just surviving was challenge enough. Then one day the world came to Henry, in the shape of two men who said they represented the American Resistance..."

I hope you see something that interests you in this collection. Enjoy your next week.