New Books and General Stuff

I've been away for the past week. Spent the 2nd of Nov thru the 6th back home, Ottawa and North Bay, visiting my daughter and my Dad. I got back to Comox late on the 6th, then Jo and I headed down to Victoria on the 8th. We spent a last trip at the Harbour Castle, from the 8th thru the 10th. It's closing down and being converted into rental apartments over the next couple of years.
Anyway my trip back home was nice. Got to spend time with my brother (and his family) and sister and dad. Also had dinner with my daughter, Jennifer, in Ottawa. I also managed to visit Allison the Bookman in North Bay and the Book Bazaar in Ottawa.
During our trip to Victoria, the pups got to spend 3 days at Poochies, a great kennel near our home. They were zonked when we picked them up; had baths and have pretty well been lazing around since our return. In Victoria, Jo and went out for a couple of nice dinners, especially enjoyed going to Il Terazzo, one of our favourite restaurants in Victoria. We also wandered around Cook Street Village and along Fort Street. On Thursday morning I made my annual trip to Russell Books and found a few. I also stopped at Chronicles of Crime on Fort Street while Jo went to Charmaine's.
All in all it was a very nice visit but we're both exhausted now. I managed to get a bit of a cold while I was traveling, nothing new there. So just relaxing now. I've taken drugs so I hope this entry will not have too many errors.
I didn't manage to get down to the Remembrance Ceremonies in town this morning but I watched the CBC coverage of the ceremonies around the country.

New Books

My next couple of posts will focus on the books I bought over the past week. I'll start with those I purchased in North Bay at Allison the Bookman's. Maybe some will give you ideas for books you might like to try.

1. Isaac Asimov - Banquets of the Black Widowers. I have been looking for these books since I discovered that Asimov had also written mysteries. I've enjoyed his SciFi work very much. The synopsis is below.









"Six distinguished gentlemen (Ph.D.'s all) and one invited guest dine monthly at New York's elegant Milano restaurant. The Black Widowers, whose number includes the peerless waiter, Henry, have an uncanny ability to elicit from each guest a story that is somehow problematic, unsolved, a mystery - even if the guest is unaware of the problem.
But the Black Widowers, equipped with plenty of erudition and intuition, eagerly tackle the puzzle - until Henry, quietly amassing the facts, delights them all with the answer."

2. Simon Brett - The Stabbing in the Stables. I've enjoyed the first Fethering mysteries I've read so far. This is the sixth book in the series.











"Carole Seddon accompanies Jude to Long Bamber Stables so her friend can apply her healing touch to a lame horse, only to stumble upon the body of a man beyond medical help - alternative or otherwise. The victim, former equestrian champion Walter Fleet, worked in the stables - spending more time grooming himself to impress the ladies than he did grooming the horses.
The police attribute the stabbing death to the mysterious 'Horse Ripper,' who's been mutilating horses across West Sussex - and who Walter obviously caught in the act. But considering Walter's track record out of the saddle, Jude and Carole find that there are plenty of suspects - including Walter's put-upon wife and more than a few jealous husbands - who wanted Walter put out to pasture..."

3. Clive Cussler - The Spy. I've read the first two books in Cussler's Isaac Bell series so far and have enjoyed the very much. This is the 3rd book.










"It is 1908, and as the world plunges toward war, a brilliant American battleship gun designer die in an apparent suicide. The man's grief-stricken daughter wants the Van Dorn Detective Agency to prove otherwise. Ace agent Isaac Bell soon realizes that the clues point not to suicide but to murder. When more suspicious deaths follow, it becomes clear that someone is orchestrating the destruction of America's brightest technological minds - all connected to a top secret project.
As the intrigue deepens, Bell finds himself pitted against German, Japanese, and British spies with their own lethal missions to accomplish. But Bell knows that this case involves more than the future of his country - it's the fate of the world."

4. Martha Grimes - The Old Fox Deceiv'd. I've enjoyed a few of Grimes's Inspector Jury books but it's only been recently, like last month, that I've finally started to read the books in order. This book is the 2nd in the series.









"There was murder in he quaint North Sea village of Rackmoor. The body of a mysterious woman in a mummer's costume lay sprawled on a backwater street. Half her face had been painted black, the other half white, and the blood on her satin blouse had already turned a deep, dark read.
Who was she? Who had killed her? Inspector Richard Jury of Scotland Yard drank a pint with the local Yorkshire lads in a cozy pub to get some startling answers. And he would have to join landed gentry in a deadly ride to the hounds if he wanted to track down a very foxy killer."

5. Ross MacDonald - The Ivory Grin. I've been enjoying the books of MacDonald's wife, Margaret Millar, very much over the past few years. I finally read a book of short stories featuring MacDonald's PI Lew Archer this past year and enjoyed it very much. So now I'm starting to look for more books featuring his PI.







"Bella City, California - corrupt city on a plain. Through its hot, dusty dives, pawnshops, rooming houses, offices, in the poverty of its Black and Chicano streets, Lew Archer trails several dangerous misfits into the jaws, the ivory grin, of death."

6. John Christopher - No Blade of Grass (or The Death of Grass). I've been looking for this story for awhile. I have read another of Christopher's SciFi stories but this one sounded very interesting.









"A new virus appears in China: it kills grass. Millions die of hunger. The West is alarmed: bread rationing may be needed. But few people foresee the desperate fight for survival, the panic, and the lapse into barbarism that are to come..."

7. Leslie Thomas - The Magic Army. My brother Rick recommended this book so I thought I'd give it a try.











"January 1944. In Europe the Nazi tide is turning. In an exhausted England hope is flickering...
Then the Americans arrive. A smart, well-fed, well-equipped army which sweeps the bewildered citizens of North Devon from their homes in deadly earnest rehearsal for D-Day.
As the beaches echo to the sound of bullets and the local church to the strains of Glenn Miller, Americans and English are thrown with sometimes hilarious, sometimes painful, puzzling results."

8. H.H. Kirst - The Affairs of the Generals. I've read a few of Kirst's war books and enjoyed them. He's a different sort of author but his stories are always interesting.










"Two old-time generals, Field Marshal von Blomberg and Army Commander-in-Chief von Fritsch, have unwittingly become the targets of Hitler and his evil genius, Goring. Hitler wants complete control of the German army and these men are in his way..."

So there you go, my first batch of new books. More to follow in the next couple of days. See anything you might like?

Well, as I look across the length of the couch, there are two doggies asleep and my wife also sound asleep. Outside it's blowing and raining.. Maybe I'll have a nap too.. :)