Early February Reading / New Book Update

Canada's heroes (masked)

My goodness! It's actually 11℃ in the Valley today. I had a great run this morning and it was nice to be running in daytime (morning time), even though I started at pretty well the same time. Jo and I have been enjoying the Olympics, even though it means staying up late each night (early morning). The Canadian women's hockey team sets a wonderful example; wearing masks, even while playing. 

Canada's shame (whining about masks)

Some truck drivers should take them as an example instead of right wing American anti-maskers. These young ladies and so many other Canadian athletes are proudly representing Canada in China. These convoyists are intimidating Canadians in Ottawa and other cities, because it's not fair to make them wear a mask. Poor babies.

Anyway, enough ranting. BOOKS!

I've finished two books since my last update. Following my standard procedure, I'll provide my reviews of both and the synopses of the next books I've started. I'll also provide the synopses of those new books that have 'mysteriously' come into my possession since my last update. 😎

Just Finished

1. Darkness at Dawn by Cornell Woolrich (1985). An interesting collection of short stories.

"Cornell Woolrich was one of the secret gems of the noir genre. His best known stories, Rear Window and The Bride Wore Black were turned into movies. He wrote many many short stories throughout his writing career. Darkness at Dawn: Early Suspense Classics contains his earliest short stories; published between 1934 and 1935.

The stories are an interesting mix of cop stories, mysteries and even a couple of horror stories. They are all quite excellent, obviously some better than others, but all enjoyable. The collection starts off with a bit of a bang, where a dentist is accused of murdering his client. The dentist's friend doesn't believe it and takes it into his own hands to investigate the murder, even at the risk of his own life. Walls that Hear You is a terrifying little story. A fellow ends up in the hospital with his tongue and all ten fingers removed. His brother, in similar fashion to the first story, takes it upon himself to try to find the attacker. Fascinating aspect is how he eventually is able to communicate with his brother. 

The stories continue in this vein. You get good cops, reluctantly assigned to cases. You get bad cops who get confessions by butting out cigarettes in suspects' arms. Most are told in the first person but there a couple that aren't. Neat twists and turns in all of them. Kiss of the Cobra is a scary little horror story; is she woman or snake??? Red Liberty is a neat story, a closed room mystery which takes place on the Statue of Liberty. Worked on by a hard done cop, whose wife thinks he needs to read more and visit art galleries. He goes to the Statue because he figures it's the biggest sculpture around ... lol. The Death of Me is another neat story with lots of twists. Protagonist is down on his luck, tries to commit suicide, but fails. Discovers body on train tracks and the story takes a whole new set of twists. Just fascinating.

Woolrich has a way of immediately getting into the story and action. He has a way with description and a down-to-earth way with language. All of his stories were interesting page-turners and with satisfying endings. Most enjoyable. If you want to try the noir genre, check him out, please. I discovered his works only the past few years and am so glad I did. (4 stars)"

2. Corpus de Crossword by Nero Blanc (Crossword Mystery #6 / 2003). I enjoyed the first book I tried in this series. This one was even more entertaining.

"Corpus de Crossword is the sixth book in husband & wife team Nero Blanc's entertaining Crossword mystery series. Husband and wife team, PI Rosco Polycrates and crossword puzzle creator, Belle Graham, live in Massachusetts. They get involved in a case when a body is discovered at a building site at a nearby town, Taneysville.

Rosco basically goes undercover as a building inspector to try and find out the identity of the body (he is asked by a man running for a seat in Congress) and who murdered her / him. Belle gets anonymous crosswords in the mail and as she deciphers them, she begins to believe they might be related to Rosco's investigation. The story is told from their perspective with time also taken up with the crossword puzzler, an elderly woman living in a senior's home (Her name isn't given)

It's a light fun case. Rosco and Belle are a great team, clearly in love and with a super relationship. The supporting cast, especially family friend, Sarah, and ex-partner of Roscoe, Police Lt Al Turner add to the enjoyment of the book.

Throw in a town filled with secrets of its past and a murdered PI who had tried to contact Rosco and everything moves along at a nice pace and comes to an interesting, satisfying conclusion. I thought my first experience with the crossword solving sleuths was interesting but this was better, more well-defined and well- crafted. Now to find more of the series. (3.5 stars)"

Currently Reading

1. Life's Little Ironies by Thomas Hardy (1895).

"The proverbial phrase 'life's little ironies' was coined by Hardy for his third volume of short stories. These tales and sketches possess all the power of his novels: the wealth of description, the realistic portrayal of the quaint lore of Wessex, the 'Chaucerian' humour and characterization, the shrewd and critical psychology, the poignant estimate of human nature and the brooding sense of wonder at the essential mystery of life.

The tales which make up Life's Little Ironies tenderly re-create a rapidly vanishing rural world and scrutinize the repressions of fin-de-siècle bourgeois life. They share the many concerns of Hardy's last great novels, such as the failure of modern marriage and the insidious effects of social ambition on the family and community life. Ranging widely in length and complexity, they are unified by Hardy's quintessential irony, which embraces both the farcical and the tragic aspects of human existence."

2. Cranks and Shadows by K.C. Constantine (Mario Balzic #11 / 1995). I've enjoyed one book in this mystery series so far. This one has started off well.

"This is the final book in the acclaimed Mario Balzic series. Balzic has been told to lay off five more staff in his already skeletal department. But he feels the town needs protection, and he is willing to run a private army to achieve this."

New Books

1. A Circus of Hells by Poul Anderson (Ensign Flandry #2 / 1970).

"Crack Lieutenant Dominic Flandry was not a man easily swayed from his duty to the Empire... not, that is, until galactic vice king Leon Ammon offered him a million credit bribe, a voluptuous woman called Djana, and a commission to explore a dark and treasure laden moon.

But within the desolate peaks and valleys of that strange world of ice and shadow, Flandry found more he had bargained for. Supposedly barren, the planet swarmed with a hideous race of strange, inhuman creatures... infernally controlled by a deranged and brilliant computer brain. Each creature, like a piece in a bizarre and lethal chess game, was programmed to kill.
And although Flandry did not know it – so was the woman he loved..."

(Ed Note. A bit of self-back patting here. I bought the next 3 books in 2nd Page Books in Courtenay and as I arrived at the cash to pay for them, the owner told me how impressed he was with the variety I'd chosen. Must say it made me feel pretty good. Nice to get a compliment sometimes)

2. Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle (1999). I've only read The Last Unicorn by Beagle and enjoyed it very much. (Ed Note. The owner of 2nd Page Books said that A Fine and Private Place by Beagle was his mother's favorite book. I'm going to have to get a copy)

"Arriving in the English countryside to live with her mother and new stepfather, Jenny has no interest in her surroundings until she meets Tamsin. Since her death over 300 years ago, Tamsin has haunted the lonely estate without rest, trapped by a hidden trauma she can't remember, and a powerful evil even the spirits of night cannot name. To help her, Jenny must delve deeper into the dark world than any human has in hundreds of years, and face danger that will change her life forever. . . ."

2. Night of January 16th by Ayn Rand (1936). Back in my university days, I was quite taken with Rand's writing. I enjoyed Atlas Shrugged and We the Living and Anthem. I used to get the Ayn Rand newsletter. I've moved on from her philosophy (did I even understand it? The Theory of Selfishness I think it was called). Anyway, when I saw this play (her first work) I thought I'd give it a try.

"To the world, he was a startlingly successful international tycoon, head of a vast financial empire. To his beautiful secretary-mistress, he was a god-like hero to be served with her mind, soul and body. To his aristocratic young wife, he was an elemental force of nature to be tamed. To his millionaire father-in-law, he was a giant whose single error could be used to destroy him.

What kind of man was Bjorn Faulkner? Only you, the reader, can decide.

On one level, Night of January 16th is a totally gripping drama about the rise and destruction of a brilliant and ruthless man. On a deeper level, it is a superb dramatic objectification of Ayn Rand's vision of human strength and weakness. Since its original Broadway success, it has achieved vast worldwide popularity and acclaim."

3. A Confederate General from Big Sur by Richard Brautigan (1964). I've previously read two books of Brautigan's; The Hawkline Monster and Trout Fishing in America, both quite unique stories.

"Brautigan's excellent novel is definitely worth the quick read, then worth another to catch all his language play. Having grown up near Big Sur, this book was particularly funny as Lee Mellon is still in residence there.

Brautigan's descriptions of drugs, drinks, frogs & the commas of Ecclesiastes are all done in a straightforward style. A favorite paragraph:
"He broke the seal on the bottle, unscrewed the cap & poured a big slug of whiskey into his mouth. He swallowed it down with a hairy gulp. Strange, for as I said before: he was bald." A great read.

If there's one thing the world lacks, it's a good supply of well-written, funny-as-heck books. Luckily, aside from A Confederacy Of Dunces, we have this little gem. The characters are drunks, druggies, skanks, prostitutes & nutzoids. The pace is brisk, the imagery vivid. Most of it seemed to be part of my own life, but just where do you find weed that's so potent that 4 people smoking 5 joints stay high for well over 2 hours?

If you want to spend a day or night having a good laugh over a great book, pick this one up. You'll laugh out loud. As Martha Stewart says, "it's a good thing"."

(Do you agree with my bookseller?)

4. Doing Time by Jodi Taylor (Time Police #1 / 2019). I've read two books in Taylor's St Mary's Academy of Time Traveler's series. This is the first book in this new series.

"A long time ago in the future, the secret of time travel became known to all. Unsurprisingly, the world nearly ended. There will always be idiots who want to change history.

Enter the Time Police. An all-powerful, international organisation tasked with keeping the timeline straight. At all costs.

Their success is legendary. The Time Wars are over. But now they must fight to save a very different future - their own.

This is the story of Jane, Luke and Matthew - the worst recruits in Time Police history. Or, very possibly, three young people who might change everything."

5. Greek Myths by Charlotte Higgins (2021). One of the courses I took in university dealt with the Greek myths. This is a retelling of certain ones and it sounded interesting.

"Charlotte Higgins reinterprets some of the most enduring stories of all time in this beautifully produced, spellbinding new collection, featuring original artworks by Chris Ofili.

Here are myths of the creation, of Heracles and Theseus and Perseus, the Trojan war and its origins and aftermaths, tales of Thebes and Argos and Athens. There are stories of love and desire, adventure and magic, destructive gods, helpless humans, fantastical creatures, resourceful witches and the origins of birds and animals. This is a world of extremes, and one that resonates deeply with our own: mysterious diseases devastate cities; environmental disasters tear lives apart; women habitually suffer violence at the hands of men.

Unlike in many previous collected myths, female characters take center stage - Athena, Helen, Circe, Penelope and others weave these stories into elaborate imagined tapestries. In Charlotte Higgins's thrilling new interpretation, their tales combine to form a dazzling, sweeping epic of storytelling, and a magnificent work of scholarship and imagination."

6. Hawkes Harbor by S.E. Hinton (2004). Back in the day I enjoyed The Outsiders, at least a few times. This is a more adult book by Hinton, supposedly, with horror aspects.

"An orphan and a bastard, Jamie Sommers grew up knowing he had no hope of heaven. Conceived in adultery and born in sin, Jamie was destined to repeat the sins of his parents--or so the nuns told him. And he proved them right. Taking to sea, Jamie sought out danger and adventure in exotic ports all over the world as a smuggler, gunrunner--and murderer. Tough enough to handle anything, he's survived foreign prisons, pirates, and a shark attack. But in a quiet seaside town in Delaware, Jamie discovered something that was enough to drive him insane-and change his life forever. For it was in Hawkes Harbor that Jamie came face to face with the ultimate evil...."

7. The Best of John W. Campbell by John W. Campbell (1976). I have yet to read anything by Campbell but he seems to be highly respected in the Sci-Fi world. We'll see.

"THE VISIONS OF JOHN W. CAMPBELL

Here are the finest stories by the man who almost single-handedly created modern science fiction--the writer who taught a generation to dream...and to write of all possible futures.

TWILIGHT
He was a mere hitchhiker now, but he had once seen the far, far future...and had returned to mourn what he had seen!

THE MACHINE
The machine was ultimately benevolent...so benevolent that it gave mankind the ultimate but most unwanted gift!

FORGETFULNESS
They were like children in the museum of Earth's glorious past...children who had forgotten so much, but whose powers were those of gods!

And the classic that was to become the movie THE THING: WHO GOES THERE?
The Thing was the most dreadful threat men had ever faced...a creature that could be any one--or all--of them!

And many more!"

Women Authors I'm Enjoying - Elly Griffiths

Elly Griffiths

British author Elly Griffiths is relatively new to my although I have been noticing her books for awhile. She has written books in three series, plus other books. I've enjoyed one in her Ruth Galloway series thus far and have two other books awaiting my attention. Let's take a look at them. Btw, the Ruth Galloway book series has been turned into a Canadian TV series, Coroner, which is quite good.

1. The Crossing Place (Ruth Galloway #1 / 2009).

"The Crossing Places is the first book in English author Elly Griffith's Ruth Galloway series. It's one of those series I'm glad I finally discovered and tried because I will find the next books and maybe try her other series as well. 

Ruth Galloway is a forensic anthropologist who teaches at the University of North Norfolk. Ruth fell in love with the starkness of the marshes when she took part in an archaeological did there ten years ago. She lives in a small isolated cottage, one of three, on the edge of the salt marsh, loving the open skies, the smell of the salt marshes. Ruth is called by DCI Harry Nelson to examine a body that has been discovered in the marshes, the body of a small child. Nelson feels it might that of Lucy Downy, who disappeared ten years ago, a cold case he still frets about. It turns out that the bones are those of an Iron Age girl. However, this interaction between Ruth and Harry will continue as another young girl disappears and they continue to work together. Harry has been receiving letters from the purported 'criminal' who may have abducted Lucy, letters that continue to goad him about his failures and which offer clues in mythology and religion to her whereabouts. As Ruth gets more involved, she also begins to attract the attentions of a mysterious person. 

It's a tense, well-written story. The area is such an interesting place and not totally unfamiliar to me as my wife and I have driven through in some of our travels. Ruth is an interesting character, somewhat lacking in confidence in her physical appearance and in her personal life, but who possesses unknown inner strength and an ability to look deeper into situations to come up with answers. Harry is frustrated by the lack of progress in both cases but he has a determination to find answers. The bringing together of the two characters makes an interesting story and they also present a unique team. The supporting characters also make the story richer and tenser as well. There are no shortage of suspects and even though I had an inkling who the actual perpetrator might be, it was still a fascinating journey getting to a satisfying conclusion. There interesting tidbits also presented though the story about a potential victim that made the story even more interesting.

I enjoyed this introduction to the Ruth Galloway series. It read nicely, flowed along at an excellent pace, offered interesting historical  and archeological information and made for an all-around entertaining mystery. Looking forward to trying the 2nd book, The Janus Stone (4 stars)"

2. The Janus Stone (Ruth Galloway #2 / 2010).

"It’s been only a few months since archaeologist Ruth Galloway found herself entangled in a missing persons case, barely escaping with her life. But when construction workers demolishing a large old house in Norwich uncover the bones of a child beneath a doorway—minus its skull—Ruth is once again called upon to investigate. Is it a Roman-era ritual sacrifice, or is the killer closer at hand?

Ruth and Detective Harry Nelson would like to find out—and fast. When they realize the house was once a children’s home, they track down the Catholic priest who served as its operator. Father Hennessey reports that two children did go missing from the home forty years before—a boy and a girl. They were never found. When carbon dating proves that the child’s bones predate the home and relate to a time when the house was privately owned, Ruth is drawn ever more deeply into the case.

But as spring turns into summer it becomes clear that someone is trying very hard to put her off the trail by frightening her, and her unborn child, half to death."

3. The Stranger Diaries (Harbinder Kaur #1 / 2018).

"A dark story has been brought to terrifying life. Can the ending be rewritten in time?

Clare Cassidy is no stranger to murder. As a literature teacher specializing in the Gothic writer RM Holland, she teaches a short course on it every year. Then Clare's life and work collide tragically when one of her colleagues is found dead, a line from an RM Holland story by her body. The investigating police detective is convinced the writer's works somehow hold the key to the case.

Not knowing who to trust, and afraid that the killer is someone she knows, Clare confides her darkest suspicions and fears about the case to her journal. Then one day she notices some other writing in the diary. Writing that isn't hers..."

The complete listing of Griffiths' work can be found at this link. Hope you see something that interests you. Enjoy!