Finished Reading, Great History and the Birthday Thing

HAPPY THANKSGIVING CANADA!😁

Finished Reading

I finished my first two books of October this past week.

1. Dear Fatty by Dawn French.  

"Dear Dawn French. I enjoyed my first exposure to your writing style in Dear Fatty. Note how witty I am by employing your technique for the start of each chapter. (For those that haven't read the book, each chapter starts Dear 'Someone' as you address your thoughts to a family member or dear friend) I was introduced to Dawn by my wife, who is from England. We have enjoyed so much of your humour and acting; French and Saunders, The Vicar of Dibbley, your acting in Lark Rise to Candleford, etc.
So I have been interested in reading this for quite awhile since I bought it for the missus back in 2008. I have to say that I've enjoyed this look at your life, the highs and lows. I found it especially interesting that you were a military brat like I was; my father was also in the Air Force, the Canadian Air Force, mind you. So I have an appreciation with that portion of your life; the moving around constantly, the trying to make and keep friends who you might only know for 2 or 3 years.
There were many touching and poignant moments in this book. I can't relate to it but I found those portions dealing with your father's internal struggles very touching. Your family dealt with it strongly and seems to have made the most of their lives, especially your mothers.
I particularly enjoyed hearing about your life in the Comic Strip and your development as a comic and actress. I wish there might have been more covered about that aspect of your life. All in all, it was an enjoyable read and I liked discussing with my wife, especially your references to pop culture in the UK. Thanks for the enjoyment. (3.5 stars)"

2. A Taste For Death by Peter O'Donnell. 

"A Taste for Death is the 4th book in the Modesty Blaise adventure / thriller series by Peter O'Donnell. I enjoyed this as much as the first three. Modesty is a strong, independent woman (think Lara Croft) who finds herself in many sticky situations and is helped to deal with them by her partner / best friend Willie Garvin. Both started out in the criminal world and have retired. Living in England and enjoying life they regularly help British spymaster, Tarrant, with various situations that need an independent, non-governmental hand.
In this story, Willie Garvin is on vacation in Panama, diving for pearls, when he comes across an attack on two women and saves one, her sister being murdered.
The enemies involved include Gabriel and McWhirter, who Modesty and Willie have battled previously. A new foe also is involved, one from Willie's past. The two, along with Modesty's beau, Stephen Collier, must travel to Algeria, to try and save blind Dinah Pilgrim and a group of archeologists, from Gabriel and Delicata (one of the more vicious villains I've met yet), risking their lives in the process.
Like the others, this is an entertaining, page turner, with strong likeable characters who you find yourself rooting for. Most enjoyable (3.5 stars)"

Currently Reading

 I've started the following books as replacements.

1. The Car Bomb by T.V. LoCicero. I received this from the author to see what I thought of it. Enjoying so far and I've just seen. 

"Detroit Nielson king Frank DeFauw hunts down the story of a judge who may be corrupt - and is one of his best friends. Booze, drugs, womanizing and a passion for the news are all part of what makes this brilliant,erratic TV anchor a major player in this deeply troubled city. Finally, Frank decides if digging out the truth about his pal the judge is worth risking his own career, family and life." 

2. The Wrecker by Clive Cussler. 

"1907: In a year of financial panic and labor unrest, a series of train wrecks, fires, and explosions sabotage the Southern Pacific Railroad's Cascades express line. Desperate, the railroad hires the fabled Van Dorn Detective Agency, who send in their best man, Agent Isaac Bell.

Bell quickly discovers that the saboteur is known as the Wrecker - a man who recruits poor, down-and-out accomplices to attack the railroad, and then kills them afterward. The Wrecker traverses the vast American West, striking at will and causing untold damage and loss of human life. But just who is he? And what does he want?

Whoever he is, whatever his motives, the Wrecker knows how to wreak havoc, and Bell senses that he is far from done. In fact, his quarry is building up to a grand act unlike anything ever committed before. And if Bell doesn't stop him in time, more than a railroad could bw at risk - it could be the future of the entire country."

Great Historical Events

It's been awhile since I excerpted this book. Today I'll look at the first US Census.

1791 - First Census

First census taken - population 4,000,000.

Samuel Slater, the father of cotton manufacturing in the United States, set up first machinery for spinning cotton.

United States Bank chartered by Congress with a capital of $10,000,000; stock all taken the first day.

Congress laid a tax on whisky - the first internal taxation to raise money in the United States.

 First patent issued for threshing machines.

Gen. Wayne appointed Commander-in-Chief of the American forces.

Canada divided into Upper and Lower, or afterward, East and West Canada."

Nice to see something about Canada for a change. 

Science of Common Things

Today the good Professor L.G. Gorton discusses twilight and other interesting sky phenomenon.

"What causes twilight? The bending and reflecting of light by the atmosphere. What causes the colored sky at sunset? The sun's rays are partially decomposed by the vapor that is in the atmosphere. Why does a highly colored sunset predict a storm? (Ed Note - oddly that seems to run in the face of 'red sky at night, sailor's delight) Because it shows that the air contains a great amount of moisture."

The Birth Date 10 November 2012

(Winding down now. I presume my last will be on my birthday this year) 

US Billboard #1 Single 10 November 2012

One More Night by Maroon 5. Maroon 5 is an American rock band fronted by Adam Levine. One More Night was their 3rd US #1 hit.

UK #1 Single 10 November 2012

Candy by Robbie Williams. England singer / songwriter has had success as both a member of pop group Take That and as a solo performer. Candy was his 7th UK #1. It was written by Williams, Gary Barlow and Terje Olsen.

New York Times #1 Fiction Best Seller 10 November 2012

The Bone Bed by Patricia Cornwell.  This is the 20th book in Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta forensic mystery series.

"A woman has vanished while digging a dinosaur bone bed in the remote wilderness of Canada. Somehow, the only evidence has made its way to the inbox of Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta, over two thousand miles away in Boston. She has no idea why. But as events unfold with alarming speed, Scarpetta begins to suspect that the paleontologist’s disappearance is connected to a series of crimes much closer to home: a gruesome murder, inexplicable tortures, and trace evidence from the last living creatures of the dinosaur age.

When she turns to those around her, Scarpetta finds that the danger and suspicion have penetrated even her closest circles. Her niece Lucy speaks in riddles. Her lead investigator, Pete Marino, and FBI forensic psychologist and husband, Benton Wesley, have secrets of their own. Feeling alone and betrayed, Scarpetta is tempted by someone from her past as she tracks a killer both cunning and cruel."

Pulitzer Prize Winner 2012

There was no winner in 2012.

Nobel Prize Laureate 2012

Mo Yan (China). Mo Yan is a Chinese novelist and short story writer. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for his work as a writer "who with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary"

Hugo Award Winner 2012

Among Others by Jo Walton.  

"Raised by a half-mad mother who dabbled in magic, Morwenna Phelps found refuge in two worlds. As a child growing up in Wales, she played among the spirits who made their homes in industrial ruins. But her mind found freedom and promise in the science fiction novels that were her closest companions. Then her mother tried to bend the spirits to dark ends, and Mori was forced to confront her in a magical battle that left her crippled--and her twin sister dead.

Fleeing to her father whom she barely knew, Mori was sent to boarding school in England–a place all but devoid of true magic. There, outcast and alone, she tempted fate by doing magic herself, in an attempt to find a circle of like-minded friends. But her magic also drew the attention of her mother, bringing about a reckoning that could no longer be put off…"

Edgar Award Winner 2012

Gone by Mo Hayder.  I've read a couple of the Jack Caffery books, Birdman and The Treatment, and enjoyed very much.

"November in the West Country.
 

Evening is closing in as murder detective Jack Caffery arrives to interview the victim of a car-jacking. He's dealt with routine car-thefts before, but this one is different. This car was taken by force. And on the back seat was a passenger. An eleven-year-old girl. Who is still missing. Before long the jacker starts to communicate with the police: 'It's started,' he tells them. 'And it ain't going to stop just sudden, is it?' 

And Caffery knows that he's going to do it again. Soon the jacker will choose another car with another child on the back seat. Caffery's a good and instinctive cop; the best in the business, some say. But this time he knows something's badly wrong. Because the jacker seems to be ahead of the police - every step of the way..."

Man Booker Prize Winner 2012

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel. This is the 2nd book in the planned trilogy dealing with the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, advisor to Henry VIII. The first book won the award in 2009.

Giller Prize Winner 2012

419 by Will Ferguson.

"A car tumbles down a snowy ravine. Accident or suicide?

On the other side of the world, a young woman walks out of a sandstorm in sub-Saharan Africa. In the labyrinth of the Niger Delta, a young boy learns to survive by navigating through the gas flares and oil spills of a ruined landscape. In the seething heat of Lagos City, a criminal cartel scours the internet looking for victims.

Lives intersect, worlds collide, a family falls apart. And it all begins with a single email: “Dear Sir, I am the son of an exiled Nigerian diplomat, and I need your help ...”

419 takes readers behind the scene of the world’s most insidious internet scam. When Laura’s father gets caught up in one such swindle and pays with his life, she is forced to leave the comfort of North America to make a journey deep into the dangerous back streets and alleyways of the Lagos underworld to confront her father’s killer. What she finds there will change her life forever.."

So there you go. It's been fun getting back to this. There are still a few to go. Enjoy your holiday weekend, if you're having one.