We're back home for the weekend after a few days in Victoria for Jo's initial session of treatment. We stayed at a reasonable hotel on Gorge Road. Came back home Friday night will continue next week. Finally a drive in nice weather, but there was a car accident of some sort near Nanoose Bay. We sat for awhile around Lantzville, then followed traffic that seemed to go around the Island Highway. By the time we rejoined it, traffic seemed to be flowing again. Anyway, other than that we got home around 8 pm and have been relaxing and enjoying being home for a few days. Watching curling at the moment before it's time for supper. Filled up the car and gas prices are now around $2.02 per liter. Managed to find a gas station locally where it was only $1.89 but as I left, they were increasing it I think.
So anyway, let's do a quick reading update. I'm not able to do them on my laptop and that's all we take when we go away.
Books Completed
(7 books completed since my last update)
"Standing in Another Man's Grave is the 18th book in the Inspector Rebus mystery series, set in Edinburgh, written by Ian Rankin. I've enjoyed the series ever since I read the 1st book.
This series shows a retired Rebus now working in the cold case squad with two other retired police officers and commanded by a DI with ambitions to move up and away. Siobhan Clarke, his old DS is now a DI and still working in CID, in Rebus's old job.
At work early one morning with nothing to do, Rebus agrees to talk with a woman, Nina Hazlitt, who has been searching for her missing daughter. She had initially been given some hope by the retired DI in charge of the unit and she feels she's got new information on the case.
Rebus reluctantly agrees to look into the case and slowly discovers that there might be other missing girls who are related to Hazlitt's case. They all disappeared along the same stretch of road from Edinburgh to Inverness. He passes his info to Siobhan who is also reluctant to get involved with this cold case. Her boss is of the same mood, that is, until another girl is reported missing.
This starts an investigation that will broaden, involve police units from all over northern Scotland and even bring in Rebus's old nemesis, Cafferty, plus a gangster who worked for Cafferty and has taken over the business. Throw into the mix, in the background, is Malcolm Fox, the DI in Complaints who has a bee in his bonnet for Rebus, feels that Rebus is rotten.
It's a fascinating, sometimes meandering, but never not interesting story, that shows Rebus at his best and worst (as always). His relationship with Siobhan is somewhat strained as he keeps getting her in trouble and she does have ambitions of advancing within the police force. Cafferty and Hammill (Caf's opponent) are used by Rebus and try to use Rebus in the same vein. Nina Hazlitt is always getting in the way and causing Rebus issues.
It's too rich and involved of a story (like any Rebus book) but it's time well spent. You get to visit Scotland, enjoy its rugged beauty (watching for dolphins along the coast, etc), meet great characters and just enjoy the ride as Rebus gets along with his work. I've never been disappointed with the series. (4.0 stars)"
"I've enjoyed quite a few of Alan Moore's graphic novels; the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series, Fashion Beast, etc. I saw the movie version of V for Vendetta first and enjoyed it so I finally got a copy of the graphic novel to try.
England is living a dystopian nightmare, a la 1984. The country is run by Leader, the Voice (propaganda), the Ear (spying on citizens), the Eye, etc. It's a police state where every person's actions are followed and monitored. But from the underground is V (picture Anonymous) who is breaking down the organization. People in high positions are being killed and he's wreaking damage and havoc.
The police are trying to find him and discover a link to a camp where all of the dead leaders worked. Call it a concentration camp where they tested various drugs on the occupants. V seems to have been one of the 'patients' and managed to survive and destroy the camp. Now he's killing everyone who worked there.
There are various sub-stories as well. Evey is a young woman who is taken in by V after he saves her from a sexual attack by a group of men. There is the police officer trying to find out where V came from and wants his own vengeance because V killed his lover. There is Leader who is watching it all on his monitors.
It's an interesting story, as all of Alan Moore's works are but it was all a bit dark and grey. Moore is one of those unique talents and if you are exploring the world of graphic novels, he's one you should check out. (3.0 stars)"
"The Monstress graphic novel, fantasy series is such a unique experience. Monstress, Volume 5: Warchild by Marjorie M. Liu is the 5th collection in the series.
I'll start by saying it's a confusing series but mainly because so much is going on. Basically it follows Maika Halfwolf, a young woman possessed by an old god, who every so often takes over so it can feed. In this book, Maika stops her journey to discover to find various artifacts to help in the defense of the city of Ravenna, a city of Arcanics (non - humans), against the Federation. The humans, along with their allies, want to destroy the city and ultimately, the Arcanic races.
But it's a bit more convoluted than that as there are allies within allies, certain Arcanics are helping the humans and vice versa. That's part of the confusion, but you can work your way through it.
What is especially interesting in this volume is that we find out how Maika becomes 'possessed' by the god. This happened as a child. It's a fascinating story as well.
It's a difficult story to describe but suffice it to say, it's peopled with such an amazing group of characters; it's filled with action; it's beautifully drawn.. and I've got #6 on order so I can continue the adventure. (4.0 stars)"
"A Ghost in the Machine is the 7th and final book in the Chief Inspector Barnaby mysteries, AKA Midsomer Murders, by Caroline Graham. The books spawned a sprawling TV mystery series that has carried on for 20+ seasons, quite amazing actually. From what I read, this particular story was the only one not turned into one of the TV shows, mainly because Barnaby and his assistant Sgt Troy don't turn up until half way through the book.
So what to say.... There were things I didn't like about the book. It's too long (although, it was still an overall enjoyable read). I didn't like very many of the characters... well, Doris is ok, Karen is ok, Dennis is ok, Kate is ok... But Polly is awful, Latham is a shit... (I guess that's the nature of a good story, eh, some people you like, others you don't). OK so my complaints are irrelevant.
It's a wandering story, many little stories within. It starts off with the death of Aunt Carey, Mallory's favorite (maybe only) aunt. Mallory, a school head, and his wife Kate, a book publisher are to inherit the estate, located in Causton (or nearby). They're looking forward to moving there so Mallory can retire and help Kate begin her own independent publishing company. Polly, their brat of a daughter, is a trouble maker, and wants to make a quick buck... which will ultimately cause untold harm to her family.
Benny was Aunt Carey's companion and is well loved by Mallory and Kate. She lives on the estate. Dennis is their financial adviser, enjoys collecting medieval military weapons, and fancies himself a writer. Ada is a medium who will come into the story when someone (dare I say who???) dies and Benny believes it's a murder and goes to one of Ada's events. Ada wants to be an actress and famous. She's accompanied by her young daughter, Karen, who she treats abysmally and Roy, their lodger. Hmmm... Latham works as a partner with Dennis, forced on Dennis when his father in law, bought half the business. He's a useless git, hates his wife and basically does no work. Anybody else?? Well, there are Aunt Carey's neighbours, Judith and her ill husband, who are sort of on the periphery.
So this meandering story follows these people. When the first murder takes place, the police think it's an accidental death so it's written off. (Barnaby makes a brief appearance here). Then, another death, maybe linked to the first (well, to be fair, it's the 2nd and 3rd deaths... remember Aunt Carey... ) Now the police begin to investigate as the two seem to be related.
For all its meandering (I'm liking that word, it seems), it's an interesting story to follow. There is actual police work. The characters, whether you like them or not, are well fleshed out and each changes as you get to know them more and as the events begin to pile up; some grow, some shrink.
It ends up being quite a fascinating story and the ending... as they sum up everybody's final activities, well, the last two pages are quite worth the voyage. Neat! I know I haven't told you much about the plot, suffice it to say, it's a satisfactory murder mystery, with a satisfying and even surprising ending. 😎 (3.5 stars)"
"The Wild Girls by Ursula K. Le Guin is a very sort book containing the novella The Wild Girls, an essay on Modesty, 4 poems, another essay on reading / publishing, Staying Awake While You Read and an interview with Terry Bisson. All are interesting (such an awful word that I use much to often) and provide insight into this amazing woman.
Le Guin wrote everything, fantasy, SF, poetry, historical fiction, essays, children's books etc... I've been exploring her work for awhile now and enjoying the scope and breadth of her work.
The Wild Girls is quite dark in its way. A group of young men go out on a foray to attack wanderers to steal their women. The trip isn't exactly successful; quite a few children and elderly are murdered but the group do manage to steal six or seven young girls, some just babies. On their escape, which is quite a roundabout trip, more of the children die and one is thrown into the bushes. Modh, one of the girls wants to bury her friend, but the men prevent them. This 'dead' girl will haunt the rest of the story.
At the city, Modh and her sister Mal are kept by the Bela family. This is the dynamic of the city. Bela's family and the other gods (Sky People) basically run everything, even though they don't really anything productive. But they do own all of the property. The Roots produce everything but only rent the land of the gods... And people like Mal and Modh are Dirt People. Sky men can only marry Dirt girls... For a short story it's complex and 'interesting'. Modh spends the story trying to keep her sister with her and that's where everything happens. Plus don't forget the other girl haunting the families. Fascinating story.
As I said, there are four poems, one describing Las Vegas and especially this short, succinct, powerful one.
'The Next War
It will take place,
it will take time,
it will take life,
and waste them."
Both essays were excellent and I also enjoyed the wandering interview. Such an intelligent, thoughtful person. Looking forward to continuing my journey through Le Guin's works (4.0 stars)"
"The Sandman, Vol. 10: The Wake is the last book in the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman. It tells the story of the funeral of Dream. Unless this is explained in the previous volume, this edition doesn't go into how Dream dies. Some of the guests at the funeral blame themselves.
The funeral is attended by friends and foes from all of the previous books and coordinated by his family of fellow gods. The first half of the book deals with conversations between the family and between the many guests and drops into the lives of some as well. We also meet Dream's replacement???? I think that who he is. He now resides in Dream's palace.
It's an interesting event, the funeral, with speeches and asides by family and friends. The remainder of the volume is three different stories by characters from the past, basically rounding out their lives as well. As always, my favourite character is Dream's sister, Death. She has a quality about her that just draws you in.
It's sort of a sad volume, left me thinking somewhat about death and for some reason, reminding my of the passing of my little dog, feeling him curled up beside me as he went on his final voyage to be with his sister. Silly the things you think of I guess. Anyway, it's been a fantastic series that I highly recommend and at the same time I recommend you check out The Absolute Death, which is a volume featuring Death, of course. (4.0 stars)"
"I always enjoy a Commander Gideon police procedural. Gideon's Fog is the 20th book in this series by J.J. Marric and it's as good as the others. For those who've never explored the series, Commander Gideon is one of the top police officers in London, the head of CID.
In this story, as usual, there are a number of cases being investigated. It starts with a thick fog coating the British Isles. Gideon, driving home, remembers when he was a kid, holding a candle in such fogs and earning pence by escorting people home. He sees a young man doing the same thing but becomes suspicious. Parking his car, he goes into the fog, pretends to be lost and meeting the boy is escorted into the park where two henchmen try to mug him. At the same time, a man is meeting his lover to take her into the park to murder her. While burying the body, he finds a box but puts it back so that the body won't be discovered.
The next day, Gideon discovers his capable assistant, Asst Superintendent Hobbs hasn't reported to work. (Hobbs is the fiancé of Gideon's daughter Penny) As the day progresses, he begins to worry about Hobbs' absence and he starts a quiet investigation into his absence. Hobbs was investigating a major jewelry heist organization and on the side was investigating a group that has been invading London parks to keep young people from having romantic liaisons in the park.
As the story progresses, we begin to see what happened to Hobbs. We find more about the jewelry issue and the other. There are also smaller side cases that his staff are looking into. It's difficult to describe a Gideon story, except to say like the best police procedurals (and there are a few I follow) they are peopled with dedicated cops who work hard to help their citizens. Sort of idealistic maybe but still they always leave you feeling secure. Does everything get resolved satisfactorily, not necessarily. People still die, some cases remain unsolved but it's an enjoyable ride. (3.5 stars)"
Currently Reading
"Stephanie Plum is thinking her career as a fugitive apprehension agent has run its course. She's been shot at, spat at, cussed at, fire-bombed, mooned, and attacked by dogs. Stephanie thinks it's time for a change. So she quits. She wants something safe and normal. But the kind of trouble she had at the bail bonds office can't compare to the kind of trouble she finds herself facing now...
Stephanie is stalked by a maniac returned from the grave for the sole purpose of putting her into a burial plot of her own. He's killed before, and he'll kill again if given the chance. Caught between staying far away from the bounty hunter business and staying alive, Stephanie reexamines her life and the possibility that being a bounty hunter is the solution rather than the problem. After disturbingly brief careers at the button factory, Kan Klean Dry Cleaners, and Cluck-in-a-Bucket, Stephanie takes an office position in security, working for Ranger, the sexiest, baddest bounty hunter and businessman on two continents. Tempers and temperatures rise as competition ratchets up between the two men in her life -- her on-again, off-again boyfriend, tough Trenton cop Joe Morelli, and her boss, Ranger. Can Stephanie Plum take the heat? Can you?"
"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 specialising 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..."
An ingenious take on the Greek Pantheon, Lore Olympus is a modern update on the story of Hades and Persephone. Follow the propulsive love story of two Greek gods, told with lavish artwork and contemporary sensibilities.
This full-color edition of Smythe’s original Eisner Award-winning webcomic Lore Olympus features exclusive behind-the-scenes content and brings Greek mythology into the modern age in a sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel."
His name is West. Her name is Cally. They speak different languages and come from different countries thousands of miles apart, but they do not know that. What they do know are the tragedies that took their parents, then wrenched the two of them out of reality and into a strange and perilous world through which they must travel together, understanding only that they must reach the sea. Together, West and Cally embark upon a strange and sometimes terrifying quest, learning to survive and to love—and, at last, discovering the true secret of their journey."
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