Anyway, let's get right into my monthly review.
February 2018 Reading Summary
General Info February Total
Books Read - 10 19
Pages Read - 3,400 3,950
Pages Breakdown
< 250 4 8
250 - 350 3 5
351 - 450 1 4
> 450 2 2
Ratings
5 - star 1 2
4 - star 7 12
3 - star 2 5
2 - star
Gender
Female 5 7
Male 5 12
Genres
Fiction 3 5
Mystery 4 9
SciFi 1 3
Non-Fic
Classics 1
Top 3 Books
"The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler is my first exposure to this excellent writer of the noir genre. Chandler created Private Investigator Philip Marlowe, who worked the streets of San Francisco. There was a movie made of this story starring Humphrey Bogart as Philip Marlowe. I think I've seen it but will now have to watch it again.
Marlowe is hired by a wealthy San Francisco family to try to sort out a black-mailing situation. The wealthy senior of the family has two wild daughters, especially Carmen, who is the subject of 'personal' photos. The investigation moves Marlowe into the criminal underworld and into close contact with various criminals and also murders. It's a nicely confusing plot, with many twists and turns and enough action to keep you very interested in the story.
Chandler has a way with telling his story. His characters are so well-described that you can picture them clearly. They have unique personalities and you do find yourself drawn to some and repulsed or afraid of others. His story telling is straight-forward, with a touch of humour and also a nice flair for the written word. I love this line, "I went back to the office and sat in my swivel chair and tried to catch up on my foot-dangling." I know it's just one small sample but it's so perfect and the story is filled with such perfection.
You don't necessarily get to know a great deal of Marlowe's past but you definitely get a feel for the type of character he is. Even though a private eye, he's got friends in the police force who respect him. He's similar to Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer, John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee, a loner private eye with standards. I don't know that I see Humphrey Bogart as Marlowe but I'll have to think more on that subject. I do know I am looking forward to reading the other books in this short series. Excellent and for lovers of great mystery, must-reads. (5 stars)"
"Reading a new (only for me as Nevil Shute has been dead since 1960) book by Shute is like putting on a cardigan, comfy pj's and slippers and cozying up on the couch. It's comforting, even though astounding things can happen. Trustee from the Toolroom was Shute's last book. As soon as I started reading it, I fell comfortably into the fantastic world that he created for my reading enjoyment.
Like many of Shute's stories, it focuses on a normal, unassuming man (or woman) who finds him/ herself involved in a situation so far out of his comfort zone that you find yourself following him, holding your breath to see how it will resolve. Now, I'm not saying that it's page after page of heart-stopping action. Because it isn't that. It's just that you find yourself amazed at how this mild-mannered person deals with this situation so out of his comfort zone.
Keith Stewart is a middle-aged Englishman living in London in the 1960's. Many years ago he gave up his wartime job as a rigger at an aircraft factory and now works from home, creating miniature engines and such and writing articles for a magazine called Miniature Mechanic. The magazine is shipped to people around the world who try to create Keith's designs and correspond with him. He makes little money and his wife makes a bit more so they can live a relatively comfortable life, nothing extravagant. They have never really traveled and live very insular lives.
Keith sister, Jo and her husband, an ex-Navy officer have decided to travel by sailing boat to Vancouver. They ask Keith and Katie to look after their young daughter, Janice until they get settled. They die on the way. So that's the basic story, except that as well, they have designated Keith and Katie as trustees to their daughter. They had Keith install a jewelry box in concrete in the hull of their ship; Janice's inheritance. Keith decides that if they are to ensure Janice the life she deserves, he needs to get the jewels.
This leads to Keith journeying to Tahiti, with little to no money to try and achieve his aim. This is the crux of this fascinating story. There are so many rich elements that develop. Keith might seem an ordinary man who lives on his street, but we gradually discover hidden elements to him that make him more and more interesting and also links to so many people around the world, that even he doesn't realize. Like all of the other stories by Shute that I've read, I was instantly drawn into the characters and the story and ultimately so satisfied with the ending. If you've never read anything by Shute, you are missing out on one of the great story tellers. (4 stars)"
3. Adam Bede by George Eliot (4 stars).
"Adam Bede is the third book by George Eliot that I've read over the past 3 or 4 years, the others being Daniel Deronda and The Mill on the Floss. Adam Bede, written in 1859, was her first novel. I preferred the other two but this book was still an impressive work.
At it's simplest, it's a love triangle. Adam Bede runs from 1799 - 1807. Adam Bede is a carpenter who lives with his brother Seth and his parents. He loves the niece of a reasonably prosperous farmer, Martin Poyser, Hetty, but because he is responsible for caring for his parents, he doesn't feel he is yet ready to pledge his love to Hetty. Hetty, a pretty girl of 18, has cast her eye and hopes towards the rich son of the local landowner, a young man above her station, he being Arthur Donnithorne. Arthur is a friendly, handsome young man who is waiting for his grandfather to die so he can inherit the estate. He is a happy-go-lucky sort, who wants everyone to like him and has great plans for the estate land. He flirts with and develops feelings for pretty Hetty.
So there is the basic premise. Some unfortunate aspects to this triangle. Adam is a good friend of Arthur's. Hetty, even though she does realise that nothing can ever become of her love for Arthur, is able to talk herself into a belief that he might still marry her. This whole situation will have drastic consequences; a situation that is so well developed by Eliot that you will find yourself reading on and on to find out how it might resolve.
There are other story lines as well and other excellent characters. Seth loves Dinah, another niece of the Poysers, who spends time at their home. Dinah is a wonderful character, a young woman who is a Methodist preacher, who cares for the poor and downtrodden in her county. Everybody likes Dinah; she brings comfort to so many. As I mentioned, Seth loves her but, she won't marry him because she is dedicated to her preaching. (In a way there will be another interesting triangle that affects these two as the story develops)
It's an excellent story and as I write this review I can appreciate it even more. It's a slow build and you get to know and care for all of the different characters. There is great tragedy and there is also great love. For a first novel and one that lead the way for Eliot's other writings, it's a pretty darn good start. Eliot only wrote 7 novels between 1859 and 1874. If the others are as good as the three I've already read, I'll be trying them as well. (4 stars)"
12 + 4 Challenge (completed 5)
1. Trustee from a Toolroom by Nevil Shute (4 stars)
2. The Black Ice by Michael Connelly (4 stars)
New Series (completed 4)
3. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (5 stars)
4. The Dolly Dolly Spy by Adam Diment (4 stars)
Ongoing Series (completed 4)
5. The Sourdough Wars by Julie Smith (3 stars)
6. Unnecessary Death by Dorothy L. Sayers (3.5 stars)
7. Order in Chaos by Jack Whyte (3 stars)
Decades Challenge (completed 3)
8. Pre-1900 - Adam Bede by George Eliot (4 stars)
9. 1900 - 1909 - The Scarlet Pimpernal by Emmuska Orczy (4 stars)
Canadian Content
10. Company Town by Madeline Ashby (4 stars)
March Books
Currently Reading
1. The Common Lawyer by Mark Gimenez (Decades Challenge 2000 - 2010)
2. Shakespeare's Rebel by C.C. Humphrey (Canadian Content)
3. Killed by the Whim of a Hat by Colin Cotterill (New Series)
4. A Necessary End by Peter Robinson (ongoing series)
In the Mill
1. Decades Challenge (1910 - 1919) - Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
2. Canadian Content - Power Politics by Margaret Atwood (I actually finished this today, it's a small book of excellent poetry) (4 stars)
So there you go. I hope I enjoy my March reading as the past month.
No comments:
Post a Comment