Shopping for Books in Victoria and other things...

Actually this Blog is mostly about book buying but I wanted to start off by saying we're having a really nice time visiting Victoria, BC. Our hotel room is nice and the Internet is working perfectly so far (*touch wood*). Our first night here we had a yummy takeaway from Da Tandoor; it's always one of the things we look forward to on our visits to Victoria. Last night we watched the 1 - 2 match up in the Men's World Curling Championships, Scotland vs Sweden. The score was close but misleading. Unfortunately the Scots weren't really in the game; they just seemed a bit off. And the Swedes made some great shots. This morning we're off to see Canada vs Denmark in the 3-4 match and the winner of this plays against Scotland later today to see who plays in the gold medal match against Sweden.

I took my normal walk about some of the downtown bookstores while Jo was waking up yesterday and also visited Ivy's Books in Oak Bay when we had a nice walk around there later in the day. And yes, despite my best efforts to be good, I did buy a few books. So here you go, these were my purchases.

My first purchase of the day, I found this at a little book store, cluttered with books, down on Johnston Street. It's a Berkeley Books first edition, published in 1963 and features a variety of short stories by SciFi writer J.G. Ballard. It was his fifth release, coming after two other series of short stories and The Wind from Nowhere and The Drowned World (both which I enjoyed during my university days). Amongst the stories it features:
The 1000 Dreams of Stellavista - if you live in a psychotropic house, you will find it answering to your every mood, including murder... ;
The Watch Towers - everyone knew they were watching. But what were they?; and
Thirteen to Centaurus - this voyage was the strangest space voyage ever attempted.. but was the ship's real destination its point of origin?
Comics

After that I hit a couple of comic book stores (or if you prefer, graphic novel stores) and purchased a couple of Alan Moore creations. I quite enjoy his work; The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, etc. At Curious Comics I picked up Nemo, Heart of Ice the latest of the League series. Next door at Legends Comics I found another new series; Fashion Beast. I bought the first 8 issues and, while I still don't really know exactly where it's going, I'm enjoying the art work and the story line so far. I was thinking it was a Phantom of the Opera type story, but as I look it up, it's more Beauty and the Beast, set in the world of fashion.



Russell Books

This is the third book in Alan Furst's Night Soldiers series; a series that focuses on different people, set during WWII in Europe. I've read two stories in the series so far and enjoy his style and story telling. They are about small people caught in momentous events and how they deal with their situations; usually heroically. The Polish Officer is set in Sept 1939; "As Warsaw falls to Hitler's Wehrmacht, Cap Alexander de Milja is recruited by the intelligence service of the Polish underground. His mission it to transport the national gold reserve to safety, hidden on a refugee train to Bucharest. Then, in the back alleys and black-market bistros of Paris, in the tenements of Warsaw, with partisan guerrillas in the frozen forests of the Ukraine, and at Calais Harbour during an attack by British bombers, de Milja fights in the war of the shadows in a world without rules, a world of danger, treachery, and betrayal." Sounds like another good one.

I have a couple of the Martin Beck mysteries on my shelves; still have to read them, but I bought another in the series when I was checking out Russell Books. The is the second novel in the series. "Inspector Martin Beck of the Stockholm Homicide Squad has his summer vacation abruptly terminated when the top brass at the foreign office pack him off to Budapest to search for Alf Matsson, who has vanished. Beck investigates viperous Eastern European underworld figures and - at the risk of his life - stumbles upon the international racket in which Matsson was involved. With the coolly efficient local police on his side  and a predatory nymphet on his tail, Beck pursues a case whose international implications grow with each new clue."

I discovered Canadian SciFi writer, Phyllis Gotlieb's stories on a previous visit to Russell Books and I've enjoyed every story I've read so far. A few of her stories have featured the telepathic cats of Ungruwarkh. A Judgment of Dragons, originally published in 1980 is one of these stories. "Meet Prandra and Khreng, giant telepathic red cats from the planet Ungruwarkh. They are bad-tempered, they hold grudges, they are usually uninterested in anything that is not good to eat.. and they are the most unusual agents in the service of the Galactic Federation. Through space and across time, they go to the most bizarre and dangerous worlds in the galaxy. Even to Solthree (called by its natives Earth) where the are met with some alarm... "

John Bingham was born in 1908, the only son of Lord Clanmorris. He was well-travelled and began working as a journalist. I've previously read his Five Roundabouts to Heaven, and enjoyed. My Name is Michael Sibley was originally published in 1952 and was the opening phrase of a statement made to the police. The story deals with the murder of John Prosset, a school friend of Michael Sibley. The investigation is seen through Sibley's eyes and he slowly becomes a subject of suspicion. His depression at the thought led him into foolish subterfuges and his efforts to keep his fiancee and himself free from being involved only brought them further into the picture and ultimately to his trial at the Old Bailey. I enjoyed the first story I had read as I found Bingham had a way with analysing the internal workings of his characters. I'm sure this will be similar.

Cyril Hare (1900 - 1958) was an English judge and crime writer. I previously read and enjoyed Tragedy at Law which followed a circuit court judge on his rounds as various activities affect the journey. I enjoyed the story very much. Death of a Sportsman was his second novel and published in 1938. "The setting is a small resort hotel in rural England. The cast is a group of dedicated fishermen and the crime is 'murder'. Inspector Mallett's shrewd resolution of the case involves the clever use of fishing lore and practice. Vintage detection from a master" Unfortunately, Hare had a relatively short career as he,  suffered from tuberculosis after World War II and died in 1958.

Sir Fred Hoyle was a British astrophysicist and also a SciFi writer. I've read and enjoyed a few of his stories, A for Andromeda, The Fifth Planet and The Andromeda Breakthrough. The Black Cloud, his first novel, was released in 1957. "A cloud of gas, of which there are a vast number in the Universe, approaches the solar system on a course that is predicted to bring it between the Sun and the Earth, shutting off the Sun's rays, causing incalculable changes on our planet. The effect of this impending catastrophe on the scientists and politicians is convincingly described by Fred Hoyle, the leading Cambridge astronomer; so convincingly, in fact, that the reader feels that these events may actually happen. This is science fiction at its very highest level."

This is one of Alan Hunter's Inspector George Gently mysteries. The first in the series came out in 1955 and he produced almost a novel a year until 1999. Death on the Heath was first released in 1981. "The tranquil seaside village of Wolmering was frequented by only the very best people. But one of them now lay dead on the lovely heath and another of them had surely done him in. It was the firm opinion of the local constabulary - who had plucked a piece of prime evidence from the victim's pocket - that the culprit was none other than the wife's lover, Andrew Reymerston. But CI Gently was not convinced; he only wished he were. Just years before, this same Reymerston had botched an important case. Here was the perfect chance to settle old scores, but Gently knew who else had a compelling reason to commit murder."

Ivy Books

This is the last of Ariana Franklin's Mistress of the Art of Death series as she died shortly after it was released. It's so unfortunate, death always is, but she was such a talented writer and had only released four stories in the series until her death. I'm sure she had many more inside her. This story is set in 1176. "Henry II sends his 10-year old daughter to Palermo to marry William II of Sicily. War on the Continent and outbreaks of the plague make it an especially dangerous journey, so the King selects as his daughter's companion the woman he trusts most: Adelar Aguilar, his mistress of the art of death. Accompanying Adelia are her Arab companion, Mansur, her lover Rowley and an unusual newcomer, the Irish sea captain O'Donnell. But another man has joined the procession - a murderer bent on the worst kind of revenge. "

I saw A Train in Winter and it looked so very interesting. As it says, it's an extraordinary story of women, friendship and survival in WWII. "It covers the story of 230 French women resisters who were sent to Auschwitz. Caroline Moorehead's book is the story of these women. 49 survived the death camp and 6 were still alive in 2010 to share the story. It looks fascinating.





So there you have it. Cutting this a bit short as we're about to head off to more curling. Enjoy your Saturday!!

Curling and Puppies and Currently Reading...

This week in Victoria, B.C. one of the big happenings is the Men's World Curling Championships. And of course, I do mean the Winter sport of curling, nothing to do with hair styling.. ;0). Since it's right on our doorstep, Jo and I thought we should at least try to see some of the games, so we're off to see the finals weekend. We do enjoy the sport; I've played on and off all my life and Jo and I played in a mixed league with some friends back a few years ago. We always make sure to watch the Brier (Canadian Men's championships) and the Scotties Tournament of Hearts (Canadian Women's Championships) and various other tournaments over the course of the year. We were fortunate to manage to go to Vancouver during the 2010 Olympics and see quite a few of the Olympic curling events. Definitely a highlight that year.

As well, we're combining this curling adventure with a side-trip to the mainland to pick up our new miniature schnauzer puppy, Bonnie. The photo isn't of her, but she may look like that when she's all grown up. We're very excited about getting her. With any luck we'll be back there in the summer to get a male, to be named Clyde (of course). It's been a couple of years now that we've been without a doggie companion(s) and we're ready to settle down and add a couple to our household.




Currently Reading

Of course, the main purpose of the Blog is to talk about books.. I do like to digress though; it is my Blog after all.. ;0) I'm currently enjoying one of my 12 + 2 Reading Group Challenge books for 2013, Stephen Fry's The Fry Chronicles. Stephen Fry is roughly my age (mid-50's) and is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter, etc. Yes, you've got it, the classic underachiever. I bought this book for Jo for Xmas a couple of years ago, but also wanted to read it myself. I enjoy Fry in so many things; Blackadder, QI, his talk show (although we generally have to wait to watch it when we visit family in England) and especially, his TV legal drama, Kingdom, which we managed to catch on Vision TV when it was shown here. It was such an excellent series. So when I saw his autobiography, I wanted to see what he had to say. Basically, he writes like he speaks; he's educated, well-written, self-deprecating (to a fault) and just a pleasure to read. The book, so far anyway, highlights his university career (Cambridge) and his early acting / writing/ show business career, with many forays down other alley ways. I've really had difficulty putting it down, when I pick it up and must say it's been a pleasure to read so far.

My bed-time book is the first from my April Focus Author challenge (Jane Haddam) . I won't discuss it too much as I highlighted the books I hoped to read in my previous Blog. Suffice it to say, I'm enjoying getting back into the Gregor Demarkian mysteries. Jane Haddam has a unique story-telling style that is a pleasure to sink into. She develops her story at a nice pace and keeps ex-FBI profiler on the periphery while the story unfolds. Gregor is an interesting detective, who seems to wander through his mysteries absorbing information until it all sort of gels into a solution. It's been too long that I've read one of Haddam's mysteries and it'll be a pleasure to read 4 or 5 of them this month. In case I manage to finish both of my currently reading books this weekend on the road, I've brought along the second book from my Haddam list, Feast of Murder. However the next book I'll pick up will be -

Bridge on the River Kwai, by Pierre Boulle. I found this edition, a Fontana / Collins 22nd impression published in Mar 1972, at the annual local Rotary Club Book Sale. The book was initially released in 1952. I first read it in High school and have seen the movie with Alec Guinness many times (one of my favourite war movies). So there's the preamble to say, I'm looking forward to reading the story again. Conveniently, my UK Book Club is featuring War / Revolution as the April genre, so it fits in quite nicely. It's an excellent story, set in World War II and uses the construction of the Burma railway as its theme. The story deals with British prisoners-of-war, forced by the Imperial Japanese army to build the railway. The story focuses on one camp, led by British Army Lt Colonel Nicholson and his conflict with the Japanese Camp commander, Colonel Saito. So many conflicts/ issues are covered; Nicholson's efforts to keep up the morale of his demoralised troops by giving them something positive and productive to work toward; that being the railroad, his efforts to get the Camp Commandant to respect his personnel; his struggles to deal with discipline and so many other issues, not the least his own internal struggles to deal with the conflict of his troop morale and the fact that as prisoners-of-war, should they be helping the Japanese war effort. I recall it being an excellent book and look forward to reading again.

Anyway, there you have it. I'm looking forward to our weekend adventure; and I didn't even mention our planned takeaway curry that we'll surely have from Da Tandoor (one of our favourite restaurants), while we're in Victoria, plus hopefully I'll squeeze in a couple of visits to Victoria bookshops when we're not at the curling events.. Should be great. I'll provide photos of Bonnie when we get her home.. So exciting!

Have a great weekend!

April 2013 - Focus Author - Jane Haddam



Jane Haddam

Jane Haddam is an American mystery writer. She was born in Bethel Connecticut in 1951 and published her first novel, Sweet, Savage Murder, in 1984. Her mysteries feature retired FBI profiler, Armenian - American detective, Gregor Demarkian. Forced to retire, as he'd reached his retirement age, and also due to the death of his wife, Gregor returns to his childhood neighbourhood, Philadelphia  and settles down with his childhood friends. Somewhat to assuage his boredom, he takes on the occasional mystery and these mysteries form the basis of the Gregor Demarkian series. He is often assisted by his friends; Tibor Kasparian and fantasy writer, Bennis Hannaford.

The mysteries are excellent. I read my first Demarkian mystery n 2007 and since then have read 7. Not in any particular order I have to say. The stories often revolve around religious themes, Gregor has been hired by various diocese in his cases and there is a holiday theme for a number of books. So far I've completed:

1. Not a Creature Was Stirring (#1) - Christmas (1990)
2. Bleeding Hearts (#11) - Valentine's Day (1995)
3. True Believers (#17) - (2001)
4. Murder Superior (#8) - Mother's Day (1993)
5. Quoth the Raven (#4) - Hallowe'en (1991)
6. A Stillness in Bethlehem (#7) - Christmas (1993)
7. A Great Day for the Deadly (#5) - St Patrick's Day (1992)

In the month of April, I plan to feature the Gregor Demarkian mysteries as my bed-time book and with any luck, I hope to read another four at least. I still have 7 or 8 in the series on my bookshelves to read and it's been awhile since I have read one. They are always enjoyable, the cast of characters are interesting and both the themes and the crimes are often very different.

I've started with Precious Blood, Gregor Demarkian #2, as my first book. It is one of the Holiday mysteries, Easter being its setting. The story is set in Colchester, NY and this is the book blurb: "Former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian is doing a friend a favour when he shows up in Colchester, NY. The Cardinal Archbishop has a problem: A young woman has been mysteriously murdered, and one of his parish priests had the strongest of reasons for wanting her dead. But Father Andrew Walsh isn't the only one with a motive. It seems that quite a number of parishioners shared a damning past with the diseased. Something happened twenty years ago. Something that's leading a desperate soul to break the deadliest commandment. And when the good Father himself keels over in the middle of High Mass, Gregor knows he needs a miracle."

This is my plan for the rest of the month; if I manage to be successful completing my challenge.

Feast of Murder, Gregor Demarkian #6. This is a Thanksgiving murder mystery. "Wall Street wizard Jonathan Edgewick Baird has some very good reasons for hauling friends, family and flunkies out for a Thanksgiving week cruise on his lovingly crafted duplicate of the good ship Mayflower, not the least of which are the fortuitous death of an embarrassing business associate and his own recent release from prison for insider trading. But why did Baird invite former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian, a noted murder specialist, along for the ride? And who put strychnine on the menu for their first dinner at sea? Add two wives - on ex, one current - with unusual appetites, a son who's a little too eager to fill Daddy's shoes, a brother with an adding machine for a soul, and a yuppie couple whose Saab story may have them losing the car and the condo, and it soon falls to Demarkian to determine which of the blue bloods really came to give thanks.. and which one is really out for blood.

Dear Old Dead, Demarkian #9, Father's Day Mystery. "Media mogul, Charles van Straadt could have picked a better time for an unannounced call on the uptown health-care centre he supported. A gang war rages across Harlem, making for wall-to-wall stretchers in the emergency room, and photos of the centre's saintly director have been splashed all over the front pages after a vice charge arrest. it was an inconvenient time to drop in.. and an even worse time to drop dead. Former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian is called in to investigate van Straadt's messy demise. Was it a premature Father's Day gift from one of the millionaire's grandchildren, hoping to head off a rumoured change in the old man's will? Did the clinic director have a falling out with his prickly, uptight patron? Or did the smiling nun with a will of steel send Charlie to his Heavenly Father? Soon Demarkian has a Father's Day gift of his own, even more unwanted than a gaudy tie.. another corpse."

Festival of Deaths, Gregor Demarkian #10, Hanukkah.
"Eight nights of murder. That's what Hanukkah in Philadelphia shapes up to be this year, as a killer stalks America's most outrageous talk show host from New York to the City of Brotherly Love - bailiwick of ex-FBI agent, Gregor Demarkian. The good folks on Cavanaugh Street have cajoled Gregor into appearing on Lotte Goldman's always controversial TV show. The topic: Sex and the Serial Killer. But Gregor is soon drawn into a jungle of behind-the-camera politics and off-the-set malice. He'll have to out bluff a murder.. before death lights a candle for them all."


Of course, even if I do manage to read these four in April, I still have these others in the hopper..

Fountain of Death, Demarkian #12
Baptism in Blood, Demarkian #14
Deadly Beloved, Demarkian #15
Skeleton Key, Demarkian #16
Glass Houses, Demarkian #22
Living Witness, Demarkian #24

It's an excellent series. I'm looking forward to re-acquainting myself with Haddam's excellent series. You might want to check it out yourself, if you like a good, well-paced, interesting murder mystery series. Give it it a try.

March 2013 Update

I'm jumping the gun a bit as it's not the end of March yet, but here is my interim update on what I've been reading this month and how my challenges are progressing. Since we spent the beginning of March travelling, I wasn't following my normal practice of having my downstairs book and bedside table book; rather, I focused on just one book at a time. I imagine it balanced out in the great scheme of things.. ;0)

Let's see. As an overall review, as of today 24 Mar 2013, I've completed 25 books so far in my Goodreads challenge of 80 books and have read approximately 6300 pages. I've completed six books in March and have two on the go. I might only finish one of those as The Phryne Fisher mysteries contains three books in one. (I have finished one of the books so far, mind you)

Genre Challenge (Modern British Classics 20th Century)

I've completed two books in this challenge so far. Graham Greene's Stamboul Train is also one of my 12 + 2 Challenge books. I do like his style generally and this story didn't let me down at all. This story focused on a number of people who get on and off the Orient Express between Ostend and Constantinople and their various interactions. It was so well-written and a most enjoyable read. I gave the book 4 stars. I've gotten back into Graham Greene somewhat again recently. I had read some of his books back in my university days and onwards, but it's been 20 years or so since I had picked up one of his books. But of late, I've completed Our Man in Havana and Brighton Rock as well and it's been  a pleasure to sit down to them.


The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham was the other book I completed in this challenge. I won't go into it again as I did mention it in my last Blog entry (which you can see here if you're interested) Suffice it to say that it's one of my favourite books of 2013 so far.

As a matter of interest, currently leading the poll for next month's Genre challenge is War/ Revolution.

12 + 2 Challenge

I had planned to complete two books in my 12 + 2 Challenge, but so far have only read Stamboul Train as I mentioned above. Maybe I'll be a bit more successful next month. My other planned read had been Puck of Pook's Hill by Rudyard Kipling.

Individual Reading Challenge (Focus Author - Charlaine Harris)

I've been very successful with this challenge, partly because the books are such easy page turners. I had planned to read one each of the four series that Charlaine Harris had written. I completed Shakespeare's Trollop, a Lily Bard mystery set in Shakespeare Arkansas, Definitely Dead, a Sookie Stackhouse fantasy set in Louisiana and Grave Sight, a Harper Connelly supernatural mystery, this one also set in Arkansas in the town of Sarne. At the moment, I'm in the process of reading Dead Over Heels, an Aurora Teagarden mystery set in Georgia. Charlaine Harris has such a nice way with her stories, whether the supernatural vampire/ werewolf fiction of the Sookie Stackhouse stories, or the cleaning lady cum detective Lily Bard. She has strong female leads, each with their own unique talents and issues and with a strong supporting cast. You can't go wrong with one of her stories and I've enjoyed them very much this month.

Individual Reading Challenge (Alphabetical Mysteries)

As you can see, since I started this challenge back last year, I've made my way to the G's. I had thought I might be able to complete two authors this month, but will actually be lucky to read all of Introducing the Honourable Phryne Fisher. I was introduced to the stories by the Australian TV mystery series of the same name and enjoyed it so much that I had to search out Kerry Greenwood's books. This particular edition has the first three mysteries; Cocaine Blues, Flying Too High and Murder on the Ballarat Train. As of today I have completed the first and am just starting the second. Maybe because I was introduced to the books through the most entertaining TV show, which stars the lovely, talented Essie Davis as Turn of the Century detective, I find the TV series to be somewhat better. However the stories so far have kept me turning the pages to see what happens next and they are full of action and entertainment. Lovely to cozy up to and experience Phryne's adventures.

Freebies

I did take along one book as a travel book for our flight from Comox to Toronto and it was Bangkok 8, the first Sonchaii Jitpleecheep mystery by John Burdett. As you can guess it's set in Bangkok, Thailand. A very horrific crime that left me feeling very creepy starts off the story. But I must say, the story drew me in immediately. The characters, the locale, the culture all were so very fascinating. The movie was so well-paced and I enjoyed Sonchaii very much. I also enjoyed the elements of Buddhism that were explained nicely, the clash between the Thai and US cultures as he must work with the female FBI agent, who was also quite lovely. Everything about the book was a pleasant surprise and made me look forward to reading many more of the series.

So there you have it. With luck, I'll finish my Charlaine Harris mystery and also Flying Too High. Then, I'll be planning my April reads. A bit more travelling planned for the beginning of the month; a weekend in Victoria to see the finals of the Men's World Curling Championships (with maybe a side trip by me to some of my favourite bookstores) and then over to the mainland to pick up our new miniature schnauzer pup.. Pictures next month maybe.. So excited.

For now, enjoy your reading experience and Keep on reading!

I've Been Away.....

The missus and I just returned from our travels to Ontario. We had a very nice two weeks, visited my daughter and her boyfriend in Kingston, my Dad and sister in North Bay, then finished off our trip to London where we enjoyed the World Figure Skating Championships. Stayed in a very nice B&B in Ingersoll and had a mere 30 minute drive into the event each day. It was pretty darn perfect. We ate well, visited family, saw some of Ontario, met new friends at the Championships and basically enjoyed the trip. However, it's always so nice to step in our front door and settle down in our comfy home. (The only bad thing that came out of the trip was that I managed to catch a head cold, now I've got a sniffly nose and sore throat..) :0(

Even though we were travelling I did manage to read a few books and also visited a couple of used book stores in Kingston and in London. It always makes a trip that bit more enjoyable if I can wander through a couple of bookstores and find some good books.. So let's see what did we find??

Kingston - Jo and I wandered around the center town area one day and found quite a few nice places. We started in an antique/ collectibles place called Turks on Princess Street. Unfortunately, the store is closing down after many, many years in business. It's hard times for the antique business. I bought a few books there as they did have a section at the back with some excellent books -

The Razor's Edge, by W. Somerset Maugham. I found this particular edition of The Razor's Edge in the store. I wasn't familiar with Maugham's writing but since one of my Goodread's Book Groups was featuring modern British classics, I thought this might be appropriate. I liked the age of the book, which was published in 1945 by Blakiston's and just the overall feel of the book. I decided to read the book as well for the genre challenge and must say, it is one of my favourite books of 2013 (heck, one of my favourite books ever). Maugham has such a flowing style and tells a great story. I'm so glad I found it and bought it.

Leave it to PSmith, by P.G. Wodehouse. I did like the look of this book. I have read some of Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster books and enjoyed his humour. It was first published in 1923 and, as I've since discovered, is the fourth and final installment of the PSmith stories. The synopsis of the story is as follows -

"A debonair young Englishman, Psmith ("the p is silent, as in phthisis, psychic, and ptarmigan") has quit the fish business, "even though there is money in fish," and decided to support himself by doing anything that he is hired to do by anyone. Wandering in and out of romantic, suspenseful, and invariably hilarious situations, Psmith is in the great Wodehouse tradition."

Can You Forgive Her, by Anthony Trollope. This was a book the missus found and liked the look of. I've never read any Trollope so if and when I do, I'll be having a new experience. :0) The story synopsis is -

"Can You Forgive Her? (1864-5) is the first of the six famous Palliser novels which, as a group, provide us with the most extensive and contradictory expose of British life during the period of its greatest prestige. In Can You Forgive Her? Trollope inextricably binds together the issues of parliamentary election and marriage, of politics and privacy. The values and aspirations of the governing stratum of Victorian society are ruthlessly examined and none remain unscathed. Above all Trollope focuses on the predicament of women. 'What should a woman do with her life?' asks Alice Vavasor of herself, and this theme is echoed by every other woman in the novel, from the uncomfortably married Lady Glencora to the coquettish Mrs Greenow and Alice's clear-headed cousin Kate."

Novel Idea, Kingston, ON

Parade's End, by Ford Maddox Ford. Jo and I watched the HBO / BBC series based on the book and were drawn in and enjoyed it so very much. I had added the book to my TBR list and while checking out other bookstores in Kingston, I found this copy, a Penguin edition published in 2012. I purchased the copy and do look forward to reading it and seeing how much I enjoy the book.
"Ford's masterly story of destruction and regeneration follows the progress of Christopher Tietjens as his world is shattered by the Great War. In four volumes - Some Do Not . . ., No More Parades, A Man Could Stand Up and The Last Post - Parade's End traces the psychological damage inflicted by battle, the collapse of England's secure Edwardian values and the new age, embodied by Tietjens' beautiful, selfish wife Sylvia. It is an elegy for the war dead and the passing of a way of life, and a work of amazing subtlety and profundity."

London ON - The Book Dealer. During one of the breaks from the Figure Skating, Jo and I went our separate ways and I checked out a couple of neat used book stores. At The Book Dealer I found the following books.

Russian Hide and Seek, by Kingsley Amis. Over the past couple of years, I've found a few Amis books and discovered that I enjoyed his humour and style of telling stories. I particularly enjoyed The Riverside Villas Murder. So when I saw this book and the excellent condition it was in, I took a chance on it. The story, itself, sounded very different.

"The scene is England 50 years after its conquest by the Soviets. The plot is to turn the occupying government upside down. A handsome and highly sexed young Russian cavalry officer, Alexander Petrovsky, joins the plot and learns to his regret that politics and playmates don't mix."

Clouds of Witness, Dorothy L. Sayers. I've been slowly gathering the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries and adding them to my shelves. I still have to read one, mind you, but each story sounds interesting and I will get to them. This is the second in the series -
"Rustic old Riddlesdale Lodge was a Wimsey family retreat filled with country pleasures and the thrill of the hunt -- until the game turned up human and quite dead. He lay among the chrysanthemums, wore slippers and a dinner jacket and was Lord Peter's brother-in-law-to-be. His accused murderer was Wimsey's own brother, and if murder set all in the family wasn't enough to boggle the unflappable Lord Wimsey, perhaps a few twists of fate would be -- a mysterious vanishing midnight letter from Egypt...a grieving fiancee with suitcase in hand...and a bullet destined for one very special Wimsey."

Time Out of Joint, by Philip K. Dick. Dick's unique SciFi stories are very hard to find in used book stores. (I look in each and every one.. lol). As I was paying for the other two purchases, I mentioned another author to the lady behind the counter (H.P. Lovecraft, that is) and she laughed and said they couldn 't keep Lovecraft on the shelf. Shepointed out this particular story that was on the shelf behind the cash. Yup, I had to get it and add it to my Philip Dick collection. (I did a Blog on him earlier this year as he was a feature author for me.) I enjoyed rereading my stories and look forwad to reading this one.
"Ragle Gumm, mathematical genius, earned his living in a queer way, solving complicated puzzles in the daily newspaper. But soon, imperceptibly, his vast network of equations began to go out of control...everything was out of its natural order...and the world and time were out of joint! "

City Lights, London, ON

The Moon and Sixpence, by W. Somerset Maugham. It was sort of fitting that I ended my journey by purchasing another Maugham novel. I enjoyed the first so very much that when I saw this in City Lights (such a neat store), I bought it too. It's listed as one of Maugham's top three novels.
"The Moon and Sixpence, published in 1919, was one of the novels that galvanized W. Somerset Maugham's reputation as a literary master. It follows the life of one Charles Strickland, a bourgeois city gent whose dull exterior conceals the soul of a genius. Compulsive and impassioned, he abandons his home, wife, and children to devote himself slavishly to painting. In a tiny studio in Paris, he fills canvas after canvas, refusing to sell or even exhibit his work. Beset by poverty, sickness, and his own intransigent, unscrupulous nature, he drifts to Tahiti, where, even after being blinded by leprosy, he produces some of his most extraordinary works of art. Inspired by the life of Paul Gauguin, The Moon and Sixpence is an unforgettable study of a man possessed by the need to create—regardless of the cost to himself and to others."

So there you go, not only did Jo and I have a great trip, I also managed to add a few books to my collection. I did read a few books during our travels as well. I'll try to talk about those next time.

Individual Reading Group Challenge - Focus Author for March

So far in 2013 I've focused on two authors; January being Australian writer Ngaio Marsh and last month being American SciFi author, Philip K. Dick. For March, I've chosen American mystery/ fantasy author, Charlaine Harris. I first noticed her writing as I was getting near the end of another author's books, the Anita Blake fantasy series by Laurell K. Hamilton. As I looked for the next book in the series, I remember noticing Ms. Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series; the series which eventually became a hit HBO TV series, True Blood. I read a few of the Deep South series and enjoyed it very much. It was similar in some ways to the Anita Blake books, in that Sookie Stackhouse has powers and also ongoing relationships with a vampire, Bill, and a shape shifter, Sam Merlotte. Other than that the books have their own unique qualities that make them worth reading. Over time as I've been going through my mystery author phase, I've discovered that she has also written a number of mystery books, featuring differing main characters. However, let's get down to basic facts first. Charlaine Harris was born in 1951 in the Mississippi river delta and now resides in Arkansas. This does help to explain some of the locales used in her stories. She's been a prolific writer who is best known for the Southern Vampire Books, aka the Sookie Stackhouse series. I've also enjoyed some of her other series, especially the Lily Bard mysteries which are set in the town of Shakespeare Arkansas and have been introduced to her Aurora Teagarden books and the first  Harper Connelly series. So that is my plan for March; to touch base with her various series once again and clean up some of her books from my To Be Read (TBR) shelf. Below is my tentative plan -

Shakespeare's Trollop, Lily Bard #4. I've enjoyed the other books in this series very much. There are 5 in the series, the last which was written in 2001. Lily Bard is a previous entitled Southern girl who suffered a traumatic experience in the past and who moved to Shakespeare Arkansas to escape her past and to rebuild her present. She is a fitness nut and the town cleaner (so-to-speak), making her living hiring out her cleaning services. As well, she gets involved in solving murders that have taken place in town. It's a very interesting series and I've enjoyed watching Lily grow and change and try to open up as the series progresses. The write up for this story reads as follows - "Shakespeare, Arkansas is home to endless back roads, historic buildings, colourful residents--and the occasional murder. It is also home to Lily Bard, the local karate expert/ cleaning woman hit a particular knack for finding skeletons in closets. But when Deedra Dean - the local woman of ill repute - is found murdered, her promiscuous lifestyle leaves more than a few suspects. And being familiar with Deedra's dirty laundry could make Lily the next Shakespearean to die....." Unfortunately when I finish this Lily Bard story, one that I have started the month with, I'll have completed the series and that will be a sad day as I've enjoyed the stories very much.

Definitely Dead, Sookie Stackhouse #6. The Southern Vampire books are most definitely Charlaine Harris' best-known series. It has been made more famous by the success of the True Blood series, with its graphic sex and violence. I discovered the books before the series was created and enjoyed the books so very much. They had a great quality, Lily was an excellent protagonist and her ongoing, developing relationships and the growth of her powers (basically she hears what other people are thinking) made the stories even more interesting. I enjoyed the setting, small town Louisiana, with wanderings through other Southern locales and I also liked the many other beings that populated the stories. I didn't read them in any sequence, and while it would have been better reading them from Book 1 in order, I don't think my enjoyment suffered any by not doing so. The write up for Definitely Dead is as follows - "As a person with so few living relatives, Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse really hated to lose one. But she never guessed that it would be her cousin Hadley—a consort of the Vampire Queen of New Orleans. After all, technically speaking, Hadley was already dead. And now, as unexpected heir to Hadley’s estate, Sookie discovers the inheritance definitely comes with a risk. Someone doesn’t want Sookie looking too deeply into Hadley’s past—or for that matter, Hadley’s possessions. And they’re prepared to do anything in their power to stop her. But who? The range of suspects runs from the Rogue Weres who reject Sookie as a friend of the Pack to the Vampire Queen herself, who could be working through a particularly vulnerable subject—Sookie’s first love, Bill." This is a series that seems to hold Charlaine Harris' interest as there are 12 books in the series. Unfortunately it appears that the next one will be the last. Bummer....

Grave Sight, Harper Connelly #1. I'm not as familiar with this series, in fact, although I highlighted it as having been read previously, I don't think I did. So I was going to read Book 2 in the series, but I don't think that would be fair to my enjoyment. If I have previously read Book 1, well, it'll be a fresh read and reintroduce me to the characters that populate the series. The series started in 2005 and features Harper Connelly, a young woman who after being struck by lightning, is able to locate dead bodies and see their last moments. The write up for Grave Sight is - "Harper and her stepbrother Tolliver are experts at getting in, getting paid, and then getting out of town fast, because the people who hire Harper have a funny habit of not really wanting to know what she has to tell them. At first, the little Ozarks town of Sarne seems like no exception. A teenage girl has gone missing and Harper knows almost immediately that this girl is dead. But the secrets of her death, and the secrets of the town, are deep enough that even Harper's special ability can't uncover them. With hostility welling up all around them, she and Tolliver would like nothing better than to be on their way. But then another woman is murdered. And the killer's not finished yet..." There are only 4 books in this series. It was supposedly optioned as a TV series in 2010 but nothing seems to have come of it yet.\

Dead Over Heels, Aurora Teagarden #5. The Aurora Teagarden series was Charlaine Harris' first. She wrote the first in 1990 and finished the series in 2003 after 8 books. I've read one book in the series previously and enjoyed it. It is a change of pace from her other books, with a more light-hearted tone. I'm obviously not reading in sequence, but the series has been difficult for me to find in my local new and used book stores. The write-up is as follows - "What's the world coming to when you can't relax with a glass of ice-cold beverage in your own backyard without a body falling from the sky into your garden? Part-time librarian and amateur investigator Roe Teagarden has good reason to ask herself this question when the remains of one of the Lawrenceton, Georgia police department's finest catapults into her flower bed. The mystery deepens as two federal agents arrive to investigate the murder. Its only when Madeleine the cat provides a clue that Roe begins to realise that using her yard as a temporary landfill may have been no accident and that Roe herself could be in terrible danger."


So there you have it, my tentative reading plan for my Charlaine Harris series. I hope to have the time to read at least these four books in March. Should my luck be even better, I do have a few others on my shelves to fill the gap. Wish me luck.

The February That Was - Monthly Update

Well, there you go, another month passed. They seem to go faster all the time. Ah well.. I had a positive month in February, work was busy what with them granting up to 16 days if we wanted them. A few visits upcoming to the Base so we've been busy getting all the details and support finalise. Makes for a profitable, busy time. Jo and I have been keeping track of a schnauzer breeder as her puppies have been having babies and in the next few months we hope to be getting a boy and a girl. The puppies are so cute. This a link to her website.. It's been awhile now since Nikki and Norman passed away and we're ready now to get some new puppies. We were thinking of names last night.. lol

Anyway, as to the purpose of this Blog, I also had a successful month on the reading front. I managed to complete  books, bringing my years total up to 19, 24% of my Goodreads challenge of 80. I've also read about 4600 pages overall. So I'm pretty satisfied so far. I know that there will be months when I'm reading more challenging books that I'll not complete so many. But ultimately, it's about enjoying the reading and that I do, so very much. The challenges are just a fun add-on; especially as they let me make more lists.. :0)

So this is a bit of a summary of my February readings, broken down by my various challenges.

12 + 2 Reading Group Challenge - I completed two books from this challenge, which brings my total to 3 of the selections. Of the two selections, both of which I enjoyed very much, my favourite was Kate Atkinson's Case Histories. It was a well-written, fascinating mystery. Jackson Brodie is an interesting protagonist, a weathered private detective and the various cases he becomes involved with in the book introduce quirky, neat characters and cases that in some ways tie together nicely and satisfyingly. I will be reading more of Kate Atkinson's stories. This was a five - star book. Loved it. The Water Man's Daughter by Emma Ruby-Sachs was quite a different story. It is set in South Africa, a locale that is most unfamiliar to me and it added a definite flavour to the novel. Interesting story, 3 women, a police officer, a local civil activist and a Canadian girl who goes to South Africa to find out why her father was murdered there. I had purchased the book on a whim as it looked interesting and the write-up was interesting. It didn't disappoint. I enjoyed discovering more about South Africa, even if just a small portion and the story moved along nicely. Quite interesting. I gave it 4 stars.

Individual Reading Group Challenge - Alphabetical Mystery Writers. I also completed two books in this challenge. I'm working through the 'G's at the moment, winding them down in fact. This month I completed the first book in Caroline Graham's Midsomer Murder series (In fact I had previously read another, but that was a whole ago and  in this challenge, I do like to try to read the authors as much as possible in a chronological order). Anyway, I've always enjoyed the Midsomer Murder mystery TV series and have wanted to read the books too. The Killing at Badger's Drift was an excellent intro to Chief Inspector Barnaby. I think he's a little crustier than the TV series, but it's a most enjoyable, comforting mystery series. It didn't let me down; the mystery was interesting and also the characters. (4 stars) The pleasant surprise in this challenge was Winston Graham's Marnie. I found the book at the annual local Charity Book sale and picked it up so I could compare it to the movie. I liked the movie, didn't love it. So I read the book with some trepidation. However it was an excellent surprise. The Alfred Hitchcock movie follows the story for the most part. There are obvious differences, Hitchcock sets the movie in the US whereas Graham sets it in England. There are some different characters in the book and also the story develops differently. However, it's an excellent story; Marnie herself is an interesting character with deep-rooted issues. I enjoyed it very much, such a nice surprise to find a book like this. (4 stars)

Individual Reading Challenge - Focus Author - Philip K. Dick. My February focus author was SciFi author Philip K. Dick. One of my favourite novels of all-time has been his The Man in the High Castle. It's a book I've read a few times and it never disappoints. I also had a couple of other novels of his on my shelf that I bought back in the late '70's/ early '80s but I couldn't recall the stories. So I thought the challenge lent itself to my rereading the books to see what I thought. I started with The Man in the High Castle and enjoyed it again as much as always. It's an excellent alternative history novel; the scenario being that Germany and Japan have won WWII and now occupy/ share the US and the rest of the world. However in a twist on the alternative history genre, a book is making the rounds in the US which presents another history, one in which the US and allies actually won the war. How to reconcile this. It's a fascinating story and I enjoyed it immensely and it reminded me why I had given it a 5 star rating. The next choice was A Maze of Death, a more 'traditional', and when you say traditional in the context of a Philip Dick novel, you are using the term somewhat loosely, outer space story. A group of people are transferred to a planet, not knowing what their mission is. There is a mysterious building on the planet; over a very short space of time, a number are killed and the rest try to solve the mystery. So you have an outer space adventure with an Agatha Christieish 'And then there were Ten' type mystery thrown in and a few other twists and turns. Very interesting story and a surprise ending to boot. (4 stars). My third book in this challenge was The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. Here we explore the future, planetary expansion and drug-use of a sort. What is reality, what isn't? An interesting concept and thoughtful story which can leave you confused. I liked this one too. (3 stars). My final choice was Dr. Bloodmoney or How We Got Along after the Bomb. I do like a well-written post-apocalyptic disaster book; some of my favourite books, The Chrysalids, War Day, World War Z, The Road etc have all dealt with man's efforts to survive a cataclysmic disaster of some sort. Dr. Bloodmoney is such a story. The story is set in California and deals with a group of people who have survived such an event; a freak, a young girl with an interesting condition and various others. The story drew me in immediately, just so interesting. I had to see how it would end and was overall so very satisfied with how it was developed to its very satisfying final pages. Excellent! (4 stars)

Genre Challenge - Mysteries/ Thrillers. Many of the previously mentioned books would have fit this challenge, but I also specifically selected Ann Cleeves The Crow Trap for the challenge. It is the first in the Inspector Vera Stanhope mysteries. My wife, Jo, had read about a TV series starring Brenda Blethyn as Vera Stanhope and when I discovered it was also a mystery book series, I purchased the first one so I could try it out. I had enjoyed the episodes I'd watched with Jo; Brenda Blethyn portrays a crusty, at times grumpy, Vera, solving murders in her Northumbrian county. I had seen The Crow Trap and as usual was interested in comparing the book with the show. Both had their own manner of presenting and developing the story; the TV series was obviously more Vera-centric, whereas the book took time to develop the other characters and the events leading to the murder before even introducing Vera. It was a most enjoyable read. I gave the story 4 stars. Ann Cleeves has also written mysteries featuring other protagonists besides Vera. I've also got Raven Black, the first in her Shetland Island Quartet which I'm looking forward to reading. I'm always glad to discover a new author to add to my bookshelves (much to Jo's chagrin as I add more books.. lol) and Ann Cleeves is one such author.

So there you have it, my February summary. Next up will be my planned March readings.. Can't wait!!