A Cozy Nook to Read In

Books Finished Since December 1

2011-12-31T23:56:00.007-05:00

As always in December, I have a good deal of reading of magazines I don't ordinarily purchase during the remainder of the year, looking for Christmas spirit, and this year was a bumper crop. "Our State" (North Carolina oriented), "Cottage Christmas," and some other decorating magazines came up on the radar, but the old standbys were a joy: the British edition of "Country Living," "Early American Homes" annual Christmas issue and also the December issue, "Victorian Homes," and "Victoria" were just some of the pleasant reads. However, I made time for some books as well!

At Christmas the Heart Goes Home, Marjorie Holmes
You can’t read Christmas compilations which provide short reflections and memories without running into excerpts from this book by Marjorie Holmes, who was in her time a bestselling inspirational author. This book itself is a compilation album of the best from Holmes’ columns from women’s magazines, and it’s a sit-by-the-Christmas-tree with a cat and cocoa type book, with short pieces about Holmes’ home life at Christmas alternating with her thoughts on faith. If you enjoy magazines such as “Guideposts” and their “Ideals” yearly publications and the ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul” books, this is certain to please. Also a good gift book for those inspirational readers.

The Atheist's Guide to Christmas, edited by Robin Harvie and Stephanie Meyers
I always like to hear the other side of the story, so I thought this book would be a good addition to my Christmas library. I had already read the book The Trouble With Christmas and thought this book might be along those lines. Most of the book was pleasant or interesting. Most of the atheists writing enjoy the secular aspects of the holiday, don’t mind it being called “Christimas,” and just don’t want to be prosletized to concerning religious – or lack of thereof – beliefs. Since I dislike being prosletized, I was quite in agreement with them. Some of the humorous essays weren’t, but that’s always the risk in an anthology, and indeed “one man’s meat…” is a truism. The one essay I really didn’t like wasn’t really about belief or opposing viewpoints, but was a whiny “my birthday’s on Christmas and I only ever got one set of presents and it’s not fair” screed. Oh, please. Christmas and birthdays aren’t about gifts. Grow up, please.

I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, Alan Bradley
It’s finally happened: due to Colonel de Luce’s lack of funds and the necessary repairs needed on the family estate “Buckshaw” has led him to rent the home out to a movie crew, one of which is famous actress Phyllis Wyvern. Even precocious Flavia, youngest daughter forever tormented by her sisters and a devotee of chemistry (especially poisons), is charmed by Miss Wyvern (although Flavia is soon to spot that Miss Wyvern has her disagreeable side) and is surprised when the actress actually seems to like her. But when the acting company puts on a benefit show at Buckshaw, a body and a snowstorm toss the de Luces, the townsfolk, and the movie company into close quarters and closer suspicions.

This fourth in the Flavia de Luce series has a Christie-ish plot complication, and of course our precocious heroine becomes involved in the murder investigation. But, proving that brilliant deductions or not, Flavia is still a little girl, she is also plotting to catch Father Christmas coming down the chimney, and her two projects eventually intersect, leading to an exciting conclusion. A rather dark Christmas romp, but with some additional revelations about Harriet, Flavia’s late mother, and her relationship with her sisters.

Santa, Jeremy Seal
James and I listened to an intriguing abridgement of this book on BBC Radio 4X last Christmas, intriguing enough for me to hunt down a copy. Seal investigates the reality and the myth of St. Nicholas, from his shadowed origins to the miraculous “blood” which comes fro his tomb and the theft of his body and its transport to Bari in Italy in medieval times. Seal travels to each of the places in the St. Nicholas legend, leading to some picturesque visits to Turkey and small towns around the Mediterranean, and then to Amsterdam and Belgium. It’s an interesting narrative except for Seal’s insistence on writing Nicholas’ story as if the deceased saint was somehow directing his fame from beyond the grave. Seal sets this against the search of his own children for “the real Santa Claus,” for which the family finally takes a trip to Finland. Unusual and offbeat, but worth looking up if you have an interest in the “ancestry” of Santa.

Pearl Harbor Christmas: A World At War, December 1941, Stanley Weintraub
Weintraub appears to be making a latter-day career about writing about Christmas in the United States during various historical eras (both World Wars, the Civil War, the Revolutionary War). His newest effort concerns the Christmas of 1941, as the United States was still reeling from the events of December 7, and Washington, DC, was in hubbub about a visit from Winston Churchill (during which Churchill addressed Congress and gave his famous “Let the children have their night of fun and laughter” speech). In the meantime, General Douglas MacArthur is doing little to defend his patch of the Pacific Ocean—some interesting neglect brought to light!—and Adolph Hitler is collecting warm winter clothing for the troops he refuses to pull out of Russia. The result is a bit plodding, but there are some intriguing tidbits about Churchill and MacArthur.

Have Yourself a Very Vintage Christmas, Susan Waggoner
Waggoner's nostalgic books ( Christmas Memories: Gifts, Activities, Fads, and Fancies, 1920s-1960s, It's a Wonderful Christmas: The Best of the Holidays 1940-1965, etc.) have been delightful exercises in nostalgia about the sights, sounds, tastes, and the toys of Christmas from 1920 through the 1960s. In this volume she guides the reader not only through the different styles of decorating between the 1920s and the 1960s, but she also presents little craft projects for each decade that will help your decorating ring true--cards, ornaments, room decorations, gift crafts--With full-color illustrations and directions throughout. The person who will appreciate this most will be the one who enjoys vintage crafts, but fans of vintage Christmas will probably enjoy it as well.

This Year's Dozen Favorite Books

2011-12-31T23:32:00.001-05:00

(And four runners-up, since these things are always hard.)

In no particular order:

A City So Grand, Stephen Puleo (Nonfiction; a history of Boston from 1850-1900)

The Technologists, Matthew Pearl (Fiction; mystery thriller set in post-Civil War Boston)

Service and Style, Jan Whitaker (Nonfiction; a history of United States department stores)

Into That Silent Sea, Francis French and Colin Burgess (Nonfiction, history of the early U.S. and Russian space programs)

The Wilder Life, Wendy McClure (Nonfiction; a woman's search for self through the "Little House" books)

Our Glorious Century, Reader’s Digest Books (Nonfiction; coffee-table, lavishly illustrated book about the 20th century)

The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin (Nonfiction; one woman's search for the definition and origin of happiness)

The Shanghai Moon, S. J. Rozan (Fiction; mystery about a missing valuable necklace which disappeared during World War II)

The Vertigo Years, Philipp Blom (Nonfiction; Europe between 1900-1914)

The Ninth Daughter, Barbara Hamilton (Fiction; historical mystery involving Abigail Adams)

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Edmund Morris (Nonfiction; first in Morris' three-book biography)

Walking English, David Crystal (Nonfiction; Crystal's odyssey across Great Britain in search of the English language)

Honorable mentions:

A Renegade History of the United States, Thaddeus Russell (Nonfiction; history from a different perspective)

Robert A. Heinlein, volume 1, William H. Patterson Jr (Nonfiction; first part of Heinlein bio)

Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City, Michelle Nevius and James Nevius (Nonfiction; a street-by-street travelogue/history of NYC)

A Bitter Truth, Charles Todd (Fiction; #3 in the Bess Crawford series set during WWI)

Seven Books to Read Every Christmas

2011-12-01T03:45:00.000-05:00

Please note most of these are out of print. If you're interested, hit bookfinder.com, Amazon Marketplace, or e-Bay. And, why yes, some of them are children's books. Some of the best books ever are children's books, and you don't need to be a child to read them.

A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
You've probably seen this as a movie or a television special. The story was done as a silent film as far back as the turn of the century. The first animated television Christmas special was about Dickens' Carol, Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol to be specific. And perhaps a Dickens novel is not what you want to tackle; after all, isn't he voluble?

Fear not, Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in seven weeks, as a message to more fortunate Londoners to help the poor. For its brevity, it's full of memorable descriptions and even more memorable characters—who even marginally familiar with English literature doesn't know who Ebenezer Scrooge is? Dickens' descriptions of London at Christmas both good—the lovely Christmas market, the love exuded by the Cratchits—and the bad—the realities of poverty in 19th century England—make vivid pictures that remain in your mind long after you finish reading. An even better reason to read the tale: even the longest film adaptation of the story doesn't contain all the aspects of the novel. Did you know on his travels with the Spirit of Christmas Present Scrooge visited a lighthouse? a coal mining village?

The Cottage Holiday, Jo Mendel
The Tuckers series of children's books was published in the 1960s by Whitman: father, mother, five rambunctious children, a big shaggy dog and a cat. Most of the novels are typical children's adventures (befriending the new neighbors, spending a summer at the beach or with relatives, participating in sports). But this Christmas story is a little gem.

Seven-year-old Penny is often sick and wonders about her place among her healthier, boisterous siblings (sixth-grader Tina, aspiring cook; twins Terry and Merry; and younger brother Tom). After being ill before Christmas and unable to participate with her siblings in a school Christmas program, she wishes the family might spend the holidays at their cottage at the lake. To her delight her doctor declares her well enough, and the family arrives prepared for nonstop fun for the holiday. Instead, the children are propelled into an adventure involving a marauding cougar and the danger it brings to a stranded woman. The kids play in the snow, find a Christmas tree, bake pies, and do other fun activities that don't involve staring at a screen or manipulating a game controller. But the heart and soul of this book is Penny's search for her own special talent, something that will serve her while she "sits still and takes pills," and it gives the novel a sweet, timeless quality with an ending that will leave tears in your eyes.

Sleigh Bells for Windy Foot, Frances Frost
This is one of a series of four books about a Vermont farm family, the Clarks, in the late 1940s that vividly brings life on a small family property alive. The Clarks raise much of their own food, as well as supply milk to the local dairy and sugar off in the spring, and their bountifully old-fashioned Christmas is like a greeting card come to life: the children snowshoe in the woods to find natural decorations for the house, eldest Toby rebuilds a sleigh to use behind Windy Foot, his dapple-grey pony, and also helps defend the stock when a bear prowls the neighborhood while waiting for mail-order gifts to arrive, the family goes into town for shopping at a delectable general store and caroling; there is snow, skiing, ample food from the farm, and even an unexpected, special gift for Toby's younger sister. In addition, there's excitement involving a marauding bear and a sports accident. The best part is the family warmth and love which encircles one like a blanket and you're sorry when the final page turns and you have to leave the Clarks on Christmas evening.

Christmas After All, Kathryn Lasky
As the Depression deepens, Minnie Swift and her family are feeling the pinch more and more. They are closing down rooms in their home to save coal, eating an endless series of almost meatless meals seasoned with quantities of cheese, and noticing with reluctance that their father comes home from work earlier every day and locks himself in the attic with his typewriter.

And then a distant cousin comes to stay with them, Willy Faye, a girl raised in the Dust Bowl and now an orphan. Minnie discovers she's never seen a movie, never heard of Buck Rogers, never eaten a peach. So she figures that Willie Faye will have a lot to learn from her family. She doesn't realize what the family will learn from Willie Faye.

Kathryn Lasky based the characters in this book on her own grandparents and aunts and uncles, and one of the sisters' boyfriends on her father, and her affection for all of them shows. Minnie's family includes a precocious only brother who builds radio sets at the same time he makes childish jokes and a fashion-designer-in-the-making sister who can make stunning, novel outfits from scraps of fabric and old clothing. The story rings with hardship, or the family associates with those dealing with hardship (several chapters take place in a Hooverville), and yet they manage to rise above it.

If there's one problem with the story, it's the slightly fanciful epilog (all the "Dear America" books have one, which chronicles the later lives of the characters). I would have been pleased if the future turned out well, but having it turn out wildly successful for everyone was a bit much. Still, the main tale itself is magic.

The House Without a Christmas Tree, Gail Rock
Based on the 1970s Christmas special by the same name, this is the story of 10-year-old Addie Mills, a smart, spunky fifth grader in the small town of Clear River, Nebraska, who is being raised by her laconic, introverted father and loving grandmother. Addie has wanted a Christmas tree during the holiday season for years, but her father has always refused on the grounds that it's a waste of money because they have Christmas at a relative's home. It's only when Addie wins a tree in a school contest that the real truths come to the fore.

This is a lovely short novel about an intelligent girl and a father who could have been labeled "mean" or "cruel." Instead, we slowly find out some family secrets. The story also paints a simpler time when kids shopped at drugstores for a beloved teacher's gift, homemade decorations sufficed on a Christmas tree, and the big treat for an afternoon was baking gingerbread men.

(I don't usually push DVDs with my books, but the DVD of this story is well worth finding. Lisa Lucas is perfect as slightly bossy Addie, Mildred Natwick properly motherly as her grandma, but Jason Robards shines as the withdrawn father with a secret heartache.)

The Homecoming, Earl Hamner Jr.
This short novel formed the basis for a television movie of the same name, which became the pilot film for the long-running Depression-set series The Waltons, about a Virginia backwoods family poor in material goods but rich in love. If you've seen the film, you will still find in the book points of interest, as not only were most of the characters' names changed for the movie, but some of them were slightly softened for 1970s television: for instance, in the book the father character is a bit of a gambler and drinker (although not to his family's detriment!) and the "John-Boy" of the book smokes a cigarette while hunting for a Christmas tree on his own. While the movie is much more rough-hewn than the series was, the book is even more realistic, giving a truer portrait of the harshness of the times.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Barbara Robinson
This is a deserved Christmas classic about a family of six undisciplined (literally), half-wild children who are growing up with little supervision and who are the terrors of their elementary school. The Herdman children's divorced mother works double shifts at a factory to support them, and they receive little love and much fear from their classmates. Then the whole kit'n'caboodle of them get involved with the local church's Nativity play.

This is a very funny novel, not just from what happens when the kids join the Christmas pageant, but from some pointed commentary from the narrator, an unnamed child whose mother is in charge of producing the pageant. Her quirky descriptions of her friends (including one little girl she describes as "so squeaky-clean that she had dishpan hands by the time she was four years old"), events at home (I particularly love her father's attitude), and the pageant preparations are sharp and funny. This is a feel-good book with a message that is handled humorously and in a non-heavy-handed manner.

Books Finished Since November 1

2011-11-30T23:08:00.083-05:00

Words to Eat By: Five Foods and the Culinary History of the English Language, Ina Lipkowitz
I'd no sooner heard Ms. Lipkowitz talking about this book on "The Splendid Table" with Lynn Rossetto Kasper than I had to find and buy it. Discussed is the etymology of five basic foods: apples (and fruit), leeks, milk (dairy), meat, and bread. Along the way she dispenses vintage recipes, examines the way we change food names to make them seem more glamorous or just even not so bloodthirsty, and investigates the adult bigotry toward milk (and why this differs between northern and southern Europeans). I found it enjoyable and fun, but then etymologies are my "thing." A great read for those interested in word history or basic cooking history.

New England: Land of Scenic Spendor, National Geographic Society
This is a lovely book for New Englanders or New England lovers, comprising five articles and their illustrations from "National Geographic" magazine: one about the shore, another about the wilderness areas, a third about the cities, plus two more about noteble places. A comfortable travelogue, and the photos are lovely.

Picturesque Story of Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland, Frankenmuth, Mich.
Just what it says, the development of the world's largest Christmas store, from Wally Bronner's sign painting business to three small stores in downtown Frankenmuth to the large store it is today. Many photos!

A Red Herring Without Mustard, Alan Bradley
Having accidentally set the gypsy fortuneteller's tent afire, young Flavia de Luce offers the the woman the hospitality of a campsite near her home, Buckshaw, a crumbling estate housing Flavia, her stamp-engrossed ex-military father, her two hostile sisters, and her father's shellshocked former batman. Flavia, a precocious 11-year-old bullied by her sisters and fascinated by chemistry, only means to do a good deed, and is horrified when she discovers Fenella, the gypsy, bludgeoned in her caravan. No sooner has Fenella been hospitalized, with Flavia befriending her granddaughter Porcelain, and a break-in is discovered at Buckshaw, a murder occurs.

Flavia is in usual form in this third book in the series, alternately helped and hindered by Porcelain, however, I didn't enjoy it quite so well as the first two. There is a nice bit of business with something having to do with Flavia's late mother and a funny incident with the police inspector's wife.

The Dressmaker, Kate Alcott
One of the notable tales from the Titanic disaster is the story of the lifeboat built for fifty which only held twelve, caused, according to later investigation, by lifeboats being lowered prematurely in a panic by an untrained crew, an historical incident which becomes the crux of this fictional story.

Household drudge and aspiring seamstress Tess Collins escapes from France by making a devil's bargain with the imperious Lady Duff Gordon, noted fashion designer, who is traveling to New York with her husband Cosmo. Tess has cause to regret her decision almost at once, as Lady Duff Gordon insults her one minute, praises her the next, but she is so eager for the woman's help to enter the dress designing field that she will put up with almost anything. In the aftermath of the disaster, Tess continues loyally standing up for her employer, even when ugly rumors surface about her having forbidden the sailors in the lifeboat to go back for survivors. She also befriends Sarah "Pinky" Wade, suffragette and rare woman reporter who is trying to get to the truth of the matter, and Jim Bonney, a sailor she previously encountered on Titanic, who was in the same lifeboat as the Duff Gordons and who refuses to be bribed with their money.

There's a good story behind this novel, set against the backdrop of the progressive-era United States, and it did keep my interest, but the text seems more suited for a younger audience than one for adults. The language of 1912 was more formal than today, but you would never know it from the dialog. Modernisms creep in, although, thankfully, there's nothing really egregious. The sentences are short and choppy; the prose rather flat. Alcott tries to bridge the century by addressing problems familiar to 21st century readers: a young woman caring for an aging parent, another young woman enduring emotional abuse from an employer, a young man fighting a system ruled by the "haves," a politician investigating a scandal, but while the characters experience emotional turmoil, it seems superficial, as if they are acting a part rather than truly living it. I also thought period color was sorely lacking: one of the joys of reading historical novels are the details specific to that era, and one doesn't need to describe every gas bracket, flocked wallpaper, and horse-drawn conveyance to do it, either.

In short, it's a nice historical read with some good details about the aftermath of the Titanic (very few novels address the hearings that took place afterward), but not very complex.

The World of the Trapp Family, William Anderson and David Wade
This is a perfect book for those who wondered "what they really looked like." Although the Trapp family is forever tied to the beloved film and stage musical The Sound of Music, the real family story is much more complex. While this is mainly a photographic memoir of the history of the family, Anderson's brisk text does cover the history of Georg Von Trapp's first marriage, Maria's youth, and finally the history of the family after the marriage of Georg and Maria, and emigration to the United States as a performing singing group, later to settle in Stowe, Vermont, where the Trapp family still owns a lodge. Accompanying them was their friend Father Franz Wasner, who molded them into a choir and performed as their conductor. The busy Trapps, practicing, performing, making crafts, doing farm and religious work, building a place to live, and welcoming guests will make you feel positively slothful. :-)

Murder on Lexington Avenue, Victoria Thompson
When a prominent businessman is killed, Frank Malloy is assigned to the case. The chief suspect appears to be a young deaf man who was teaching the businessman's daughter, also deaf, sign language, something her father had forbidden her to learn. Frank discovers that the young man works at the school his deaf son Brian attends, which teaches their pupils to use sign language, and the young woman attends a rival school, where only lip reading and speech are taught.

When the businessman's wife goes into labor, midwife Sarah Brandt is drawn into the case, and she finds, as Malloy does, that the family situation is more convoluted than either can imagine: the girl appears happy her father is dead, her mother has apparently been carrying another man's child, her brother seems unnaturally overprotective of her, and the young man accused of the crime appears besotted with her. Does he love her enough to kill her father to remove the barrier to their marriage? Another solid mystery in the Gaslight series, with some flirting between Malloy and Brandt, and an interesting look at the different philosophies of teaching the deaf, along with the unpleasant reminder of the eugenics movement.

A Ball, A Dog, and a Monkey, Michael D'Antonio
I found this volume in the splendid bookstore of the Museum of the Air Force; there was so much to choose from and I decided on this, and it did not disappoint. It is the story of Sputnik and the next faltering steps into space, of those who later became famous in both United States and Soviet Union space programs, and of the atmosphere, life, and philosophy of the late 1950s. There's a surprising lot of information in this book that I had not yet encountered in any other book about the space program: a chapter about James Van Allen (as in the Van Allen radiation belt) and his "rockoon" (part rocket and part balloon); the tale of the Reston family's car trip through the Soviet Union; the career of reporter Wickie Stivers, a woman in a man's world; how a sleepy town in Alabama came to the forefront; the story of the animals that went into space, including Gordo the squirrel monkey and Russia's Laika; the development of Cocoa Beach; the government's fears vs. the public's surprising lack of curiosity; and the sometimes unusual personalities involved on both sides. This is a lively, enjoyable collection of engaging behind-the-scenes stories.

The King's Best Highway, Eric Jaffe
I spent many years of my life riding up and down Post Road in Rhode Island, so I was naturally drawn to this history of what was originally the communications corridor of first the British colonies and later the New England states. There were, as I discovered, actually two routes, the one from Boston to Hartford thence to New York, and the route I was most familiar with, which runs past the airport and down past the Washington County beaches. The first part of the book covers the role the route played in colonial and later Revolutionary politics and life. The last part covers the rise of the automobile and how the old Post Road was almost overwhelmed by the rise of the superhighways. The central chapters take a curious detour into the history of the Northeast Corridor's railways; however, it parallels the influence the railroad had between the day of coaches and the rise of the automobile.

If you grew up near the two Post Roads as I did, you may find this history interesting. However, the book is a bit dry and I don't see it appealing to the general history reader.

Acceptable Loss, Anne Perry
In what could be said to be the second half of a two-part story featuring Perry's early Victorian police detective William Monk, this novel picks up where Execution Dock left off, with Monk still determined to put an end to the sexual abuse of young boys by procurers who use the youngsters for the amusement of wealthy young men. However, the revelation of the money behind this horrific enterprise has put Monk and his wife Hester at odds with the wife (Hester's former assistant at a refuge for poor women) of their good friend and barrister Oliver Rathbone.

It was good to have a resolution to the mystery originally raised in Execution Dock, but it appears Perry had to run roughshod over at least one character to do so. From a wealthy woman who once defied convention to help Hester, Margaret Rathbone has turned into someone obsessed with her father to the point she will not listen to her sensible friend or adoring husband. One might have been more sympathetic to the emotional dilemma she faced due to Monk's revelations if she didn't spend the entire book acting like a frightful witch to people she implicitly trusted earlier. This inconsistency bothered me, and I therefore did not enjoy the story as much as I might have. At least it didn't end with a frustrating cliffhanger like its predecessor!

The Mayflower and the Pilgrims' New World, Nathaniel Philbrick
This is stated as a young people's version of Philbrick's Mayflower, but it is a surprisingly adult if abridged text. It is excellent for a basic overview of the origin of the Pilgrims, their settlement on the shore of Eastern Massachusetts, and the long bloody history of what became known as "King Philip's War," with maps and illustrations scattered throughout the text. While the wording has been simplified, you will not feel talked down to if you use this as a simple way to acquaint yourself with the basic facts, and then continue to the original book for additional details if you find yourself so inclined.

The Wordy Shipmates, Sarah Vowell
If this is a typical example of the author's sense of humor, I wasn't impressed. Her snark is not my style. However, I learned more about two of Rhode Island's founders, Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson, from her book than I ever did in twelve years of Rhode Island education, so along with my lack of approbation of her humor I must include appreciation for her history lesson. Unfortunately the book is riddled with modern American political potshots as well, and as a whole I did not enjoy it.

If you are more tolerant of Vowell's prose, then there is much of interest in this book, which addresses the Puritans who settled Massachusetts after the Pilgrims [different group!] settled in Plymouth. The two groups are often confused, with "our Puritan forebears" much different than stereotypically portrayed. The conflict between the philosophies of John Winthrop and Williams/Hutchinson are well described. If you care enough to extract the fact from the snark and frequent political diatribes, you will have some interesting facts. Otherwise, steer clear.

Just My Type, Simon Garfield
Given that my husband has had to drag me away from font software during much of our relationship, I couldn't help buying this book, and it did not disappoint, beginning with the endpapers of the Periodic Table of Typefaces and opening with a bang!-biff!-pow! in a chapter about the most vilified typeface of all time, the ubiquitous Comic Sans. In short, amusing but informative chapters, Garfield discusses the history of typefaces, how typefaces influence us, stereotype situations, the anatomy of a typeface, how modern typefaces are created and the intents of their creators, how logo fonts become representative of the product or person they advertise, even spotting font anachronisms in films. College Humor's funny videos "Font Conference" and "Font Fight" make a brief appearance as well! For font fans, a fabulous feast!

Upcoming: Oooooh!

2011-11-04T14:10:00.001-04:00

A Wrinkle in Time: 50th Anniversary Commemorative Edition

Books Finished Since October 1

2011-10-31T23:01:00.026-04:00

A City So Grand: The Rise of an American Metropolis, Boston 1850-1900, Stephen Puleo
John Winthrop's "city on a hill" becomes a leader in things technological and sociological in this engrossing read by Puleo, bookended by two rail events: the railroad exposition of 1851 and the building of America's first subway in 1899. In the intervening years, Boston becomes a leader in antislavery movements, precipitated by the return of a refugee under the Fugitive Slave Law; the amazing landfill of the Back Bay is begun, most of the business district is destroyed by fire, and the once-despised Irish gain a social foothold in the city, followed by the Italians.

I have other histories of Boston, but this one presented even more facts and stories I had never heard of in a highly-readable, but never condescending style. A must for anyone who loves the city or late 19th-century American history.

The Sherlock Holmes Companion, Daniel Smith
This is a lovely glossy coffee-table-like book that I found on the remainder shelf at Barnes & Noble. It contains synopses of all the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels (sans spoilers), but the big draw is the variety of illustrations: from the stories themselves (Sidney Paget and otherwise), covers of different Holmes editions (including an American paperback from the 1950s where the woman character resembles a dance-hall girl from a saloon), playbills, movie and play posters, and more. You'll see William Gillette (who popularized Holmes' wearing of a deerstalker and smoking a calabash pipe, not Conan Doyle), Jeremy Brett, Basil Rathbone, etc. Also included are inserts by people who have had to do with Holmes, including both David Burke and Edward Hardwicke from the Brett series. Recommended for Holmes fans!

Mysteries of Animal Intelligence, Sherry Hansen Steiger and Brad Steiger
I have a much-read book called The Strange World of Animals and Pets and I thought this might have a few more good stories about animal instincts and intelligence, so I gave it a try. Sadly, it's a bit dull, even for the age group it's written for (9-12). Some phrasing is awkward, and some of the stories seemed pasted verbatim from Chicken Soup for the Soul-type books. Still, there were some stories I had never heard, so it wasn't a total loss.

Royal Blood, Rhys Bowen
When hated relatives show up, what do you do? This is the problem for Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, otherwise known as "Georgie," 34th in line for the throne, and in no position to quibble because the townhome she's living in belongs to the visiting relatives, her actual amiable brother "Binky" and his annoying wife "Fig." Georgie seeks escape in any way she can, and accepts an errand from her cousin Queen Mary: to go to Romania for the marriage of a minor prince, since the bride is an old school friend. But Georgie finds more than she can handle: not only her handsome "sometimes beau," but the odious German prince they keep trying to marry her off to—and suspected vampires, not to mention the death of an unmannerly general!

I found this outing much more appealing than the last; Georgie is more proactive even as she displays her usual talent for falling into mysteries and murder. Introduced is the clumsy country maid Georgie's affable grandfather supplies to accompany her to the wedding, and a great deal of the humor is supplied by Georgie trying to make a proper lady's maid of "Queenie." Flamboyant best friend Belinda also manages to turn up along with all the regulars. A fun romp with a not-bad mystery thread woven throughout.

Scout, Atticus & Boo, Mary McDonagh Murphy
Disappointing. I was hoping for some literary criticism and also examination of each of the main characters along with commentary, but this book is pretty much an introduction which sums up the narratives which follow, which are basically well-known writers and other celebrities talking about how much To Kill a Mockingbird meant to them. It is a litany of "oh, how I wish Atticus was my father" or "oh, how I loved (or wanted to be) Scout." I'm not saying that the various authors of the essays had nothing to say, but I was expecting a little more "teeth" to them. For instance, I understand there are African-American critics that dislike this book because it is about yet another powerful white man who tries to save poor black people, with the implied meaning that people of color will always need white people to rescue them. You won't see that opposing viewpoint here.

There are certainly worthwhile bits, including Mary Badham's memories of filming the movie, but I would certainly wait for a remainder sale or a paperback version.

Mr. Monk on the Road, Lee Goldberg
All's well for Adrian Monk—as well as it can be, anyway, when you are as obsessive-compulsive as the San Francisco police department consultant can be. Now that he's solved the mystery of his wife's death and his horizons have widened after finding her daughter, Monk wants to do something to help his agoraphobic brother Ambrose, who hasn't left the house voluntarily since he was a child. So with his reluctant assistant Natalie Teeger in tow (Monk doesn't drive), he rents an RV, drugs his brother on his birthday, and takes him on the road to see some of the sites he's missed during his lifetime.

Since it's Monk, you know somewhere along the road there will be a mystery or two to solve. This is a funny and sometimes touching entry in the series, as Ambrose—without leaving the RV but once!—experiences the wonder of the world around him, including his first "sleepover" and a visit to the Grand Canyon. For some reason Natalie is saddled with what I thought was a kind of dippy phobia that is only integrated into the book as it concludes, and one of the mystery elements is introduced rather late into the story. Still, more fun than frowns in this outing, especially in Goldberg's introduction of Lt. Disher's replacement and in Ambrose's blossoming (within reason, of course).

A Rather Curious Engagement, C.A. Belmond
Cousins Penny Nichols and Jeremy Laidley, now owners of an English townhouse, a French country villa, a vintage car, and not a small amount of money from the inheritance left them by their Aunt Penelope, decide to form a business together as well as buy the townhome and repair the villa. Guided by their attorney, not to mention a couple of relatives, they decide also to indulge in one big "splurge," a small 1920s era yacht. But no sooner have they purchased Liesl's Dream when the boat is stolen, propelling them into yet another mystery.

Again, a slow, amiable mystery that is as much Mediterranean travelogue and food feast, as well as love story. Jeremy's ex-wife Lydia has appeared, clearly appearing to have designs on him again, and the couple are exploring their own feelings for each other while delving into the mystery of a missing (if it exists at all) aquamanilia (a metal sculpture also used as a vessel for liquids). Slow-moving but enjoyable if that's what you're in the mood for.

More All-of-a-Kind Family, Sydney Taylor
I was delighted to find this at a charity booksale; long ago you could find the "All of a Kind" family books in inexpensive Dell Yearling editions, but they sadly went out of print, only to be reprinted some years back as very expensive paperbacks, then vanishing. Some of them, especially the final book, are now selling for up to $170 each!

This, the second book in the series, continues the adventures of the "steps-and-stairs" sisters Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte, and Gertie, growing up with their Papa and Mama and baby brother Charlie on New York's Lower East Side. There's nothing earth-shaking about these books; it's just the day-to-day lives of the family, taking place in 1917, with a lively subplot about Uncle Hyman's romance with a merry lady named Lena. Taylor's books about the family are taken from her own childhood memories, so the stories have the ring of truth while surrounding you with warmth. Curl up with a hot drink and this book, and visit 1917!

A History of the World in 6 Glasses, Tom Standage
I don't think I got as much out of this book as I would have if I had sat down and read it in one go; instead, my reading was spread over some months and I probably lost threads of ideas in the interim parts. However, when I was reading it I did enjoy what I read, even if beer (how do you drink anything that smells that bad?) and cola (::shudder::) are not my favorite things to read about, except in a historical perspective. I especially enjoyed the coffee chapter and the stories of how the coffeehouses became social centers and even businesses (re Lloyds of London). Also interesting portions on the Roman drinking habits (wine diluted with water).

In fact, you can judge by this lackluster review how I should have done this book better justice. Perhaps if I ever get through my mounting to-be-read pile I'll have a go at it again. The subject certainly deserves better, although the prose is a bit plodding, which may have contributed to my desultory reading.

Books Bought on Vacation

2011-10-30T11:19:00.003-04:00

A Ball, A Dog, and a Monkey, Michael D'Antonio -- 1957, the space race begins

From Birdwomen to Skygirls, Fred Erisman -- about aviation as portrayed in girls' books in the early 20th century

Pledging Allegiance: American Identity and the Bond Drive of World War II, Lawrence R. Samuel

Picturesque Story of Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland -- This is the story of the store itself. I also bought Sharing Joy 365: An Autobiography of Wally Bronner

The World of the Trapp Family, William Anderson -- Lovely book with lots of photos!

An Old-Fashioned Christmas: Tinsel, Gingerbread Men & Raggedy Ann, Rochelle Pennington and Nicholas Pennington -- Nostalgic photos and text...what else could you want in a Christmas book?

Oh, and the new Christmas Ideals, which I've previously only bought at Borders. ::sob:: (We went past a close Borders as part of our travels...sad.)

Fall Library Book Sale Tally

2011-10-14T13:55:00.003-04:00

•  New England: Land of Scenic Splendor, National Geographic Books

•  This Fabulous Century: 1870-1900, Time-Life Books (I bought this, thinking I might already have it, and I do...but the copy I have is almost 100 pages fewer...not sure if there are parts cut out, print made smaller, or what...)

•  A book for James: S.M. Stirling's Ice, Iron and Gold (short stories from different times)

•  June Allyson, by June Allyson (Heavens, I had to...how many times have I sat through Strategic Air Command with James? Anyway, I like June Allyson!)

•  Tales of the New England Coast (This is a compilation of stories from old magazines from the turn of the 20th century; I used to look at it at Oxford Too, that's how long it's been around!)

•  The Literary Guide and Companion to Northern England, Robert M. Cooper (apparently there's one for Southern and one for Middle England as well; anecdotes about literary locations and writers)

•  American Country Christmas, Mary Emmerling and Chris Mead (A little gift book, with wonderful old-fashioned home decorations)

•  Dear America books: Journey to a New World (Pilgrims), Winter of the Red Snow (Revolutionary War), When Will This Cruel War Be Over? (Civil War)

•  Anna All Year Round, Hahn DeGroat (based on a true story, Baltimore before World War I)

•  Sword of the Wilderness, Elizabeth Coatsworth (Colonial era; Coatsworth always treated her Native American characters with more respect than many writers of her time)

•  A Christmas Companion, Maria Robbins and Jim Charleton (this is mostly recipes, but does have some customs around the world)

•  Say It With a Simile, William Safire (Which I've taken out before; I can tell the way the pages are riffled)

•  The Night Journey, Kathryn Lasky (based on a true story)

and a book I already have, but I know someone who will love it. And my best find:

•  More All of a Kind Family, Sydney Taylor

You could get the All-of-a-Kind Family books for less than a dollar years ago, in Yearling book editions. Then they went out of print, and when they did reprint them, they were $17 apiece. Now you can't find them again, except at conflated prices. (The cheapest one of them is selling on Amazon Marketplace is $17! One is going for over $100! Good heavens!)

All for $22.50!

Books Finished Since September 1

2011-09-30T22:54:00.053-04:00

Rick Steves' London 2011
Ah, wishful thinking! Enjoyable tour book with the usual offbeat Steves jokes, covering historical and artistic sights (Steves even talks about significant pieces of art in each of the museums covered), along with day trips to Windsor, Greenwich, Stonehenge and Bath. Fun inserts include places to see out of Harry Potter, pub history, free and inexpensive sights, St. Paul's Cathedral during the Blitz, and more, and there's a handy packing list, British to American dictionary, notes about where to get essentials, and more. Fun reading and looks useful for traveling. Maybe someday...

The Worlds of Back to the Future, edited by Sorcha Ní Fhlainn
Given the humor of Back to the Future and its sequels, you might believe the only serious discussion about the trilogy would relate to the physical process of the making the films. But here thirteen different authors present an alternative to that point of view: a dozen essays plus introduction about the three films, with an emphasis on Future's cultural themes.

The dozen essays in this book range from the very scholarly to slightly lighter pieces, but all are serious in their intent: how the series was a definitive product of the Reagan era, discussion of incest and racism themes in the films, Thomas Wilson's portrayal of each of the films' villains, the Western trope as used in the third film, how Marty was allowed to correct his own timeline without repercussion while other time changes were seen as needing repair, the narrow role of women in each story, etc. One of my favorite pieces discussed how the score enhances the storyline. Back to the Future fans should enjoy this multi-viewpoint examination.

Thunder Dog, Michael Hingson
One of the most miraculous stories to come out of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, was the story of Michael Hingson, a blind man who was unerringly led out of the World Trade Center tower by his guide dog Roselle. In addition, the presence of a blind man and his dog in the staircase of Tower 1 helped keep others calm and probably saved additional lives.

Hingson retells his memories of that day interspersed with stories about his life. Diagnosed as blind at six months old, Hingson's parents refused to treat him as some fragile creature who could only function with supervision. He was treated no differently than any other child and even bicycled alone much of the time (something that many of today's parents would blanch at even with a sighted child), and to meet the world fearlessly.

Hingson's story is well-told and inspiring, but the title of the book implies that his guide dog would be the pivotal character in the story. Instead, in much of the book, Roselle is a peripheral character, especially when Hingson spends some time talking about the problems still faced by the blind, which are eye-opening and infuriating, but still seem to be a digression from the stated intent.

Robert A. Heinlein, Volume 1, William H. Patterson Jr
Everything you wanted to know about Robert Heinlein, and were never able to ask.

This is a very dense biography of Heinlein, beginning with his family (including a portrait of his grandfather, who inspired Ira Johnson, grandfather of "Lazarus Long"). Mr. Patterson seems to know every little detail about Heinlein's life, down to specific details of infections he had, and as a Trivial Pursuit source, it can't be beat. We learn of Heinlein's real first wife (a high-school classmate, who married him and then promptly refused to leave home), his tempestuous marriage to Leslyn Macdonald, his first attempts at writing and first sales, his friendship with editor John Campbell, his short naval career and of the new work he found during World War II (along with fellow future science fiction writers L. Sprague DeCamp and Isaac Asimov). It is during World War II that Heinlein meets Virginia Gerstenfeld, who will provide the next chapter in his life.

I discovered many things in this volume—the regular routine of a student in Annapolis, that Heinlein ran for public office and enjoyed going to nudist camps, stories about the Heinleins and their friends (Ray Bradbury, Forrest J. Ackerman, the DeCamps, etc.), his quest to find publishers for his stories and how they changed from inception to final publication—but in the end I never felt I touched the "real" Robert Heinlein. The many facts seem to hold the man at arms' length. Nevertheless, I will buy the second volume. I just hope Patterson doesn't go the way of Blanche Wiesen Cook—will we ever see the third volume of Cook's Eleanor Roosevelt bio?

The Romeo and Juliet Code, Phoebe Stone
Felicity Bathburn Budwig arrives in Bottlebay, Maine, to live with her father's family when her parents Danny and Winifred are called away. She has lived all her life in London (her mother's home) and doesn't know what to make of the wild seaside town, the old Victorian house, and her relatives: her grandmother, known as The Gram, her eccentric Aunt Miami, and her uncle Gideon, who appears to dislike her father and who has nailed the family piano shut. Adrift among friendly strangers, she clings to her stuffed bear Wink, and wonders about the other resident of the house, a mysterious person called "Captain Derek" who never leaves his room.

As Felicity unravels one mystery, another presents itself. Why does Uncle Gideon go off by himself, and where? Why haven't her parents contacted her since she was left behind? Why does her family sometimes "try too hard"?

I enjoyed this book but had problems with Felicity's voice. She didn't sound like a real English child to me, at least an English child of that era, and her words and narration are often stilted. She also takes a stunning piece of news much more calmly than seems realistic. The mystery is well-paced, and the slowly-revealed backstory also well-done, although if you have read anything about the 1940s you may recognize Uncle Gideon's visitor and guess the truth somewhat early. Still, the characters are fairly likeable, there is a lovely old-time feeling to some of the passages, and the well-described Maine setting is a definite plus.

My main objection to this book is its supposedly "vintage" cover which is more 1950s than 1940s—girls didn't wear sneakers like that back then, let alone pink sneakers! Plus it makes the story look like some type of goopy teen love tale. A more moody, windswept beach with the small figure of a girl holding a stuffed bear against an old Victorian house with people peeking out at her would have been much more evocative and appropriate.

The Last Illusion, Rhys Bowen
Still torn between her love for police officer Daniel Sullivan and her own need for independence, private investigator Molly Murphy and Sullivan attend a vaudeville performance where the famous Harry Houdini will perform one of the acts. But during the act before Houdini's, the magician's assistant is mortally wounded. It is through this gruesome crime that Molly meets Bess Houdini, who wishes to hire Molly to protect her husband—Bess fears this violent act is a further threat to her husband, whom she feels is being followed. Although Daniel tells her not to get involved, Molly complies with Bess' wish. And, sure enough, at the least someone appears to want Houdini dead—or at least out of business.

I usually gobble these stories up, but I found I had a lot of trouble getting through this one. Not sure if I just wasn't interested in the Houdini storyline or was a bit weary with Molly's waffling between her job and her man, although I find her predicament understandable given the era. Perhaps it was just because her friends Sid and Gus had so little time. Many interesting facts were included about Houdini and his family, including the technique of several magic tricks (fans of Remember WENN will be familiar with at least one), and at least one facet of his life I found very surprising; not to mention Bowen's descriptions of the New York heat wave were very evocative. Just was a bit ambivalent about the story as a whole. YMMV!

Arctic Autumn, Pete Dunne
Some people like beaches and sprawling in the sun. Me, I am drawn to cold places, which explains my delight with this small volume about the author's trips to various Arctic locations, from Bylot Island during the summer solstice, to Churchill, Manitoba in late October, with his wife Linda. From an expedition to see caribou to another for an encounter with polar bears, from a leisurely canoe trip to an introspective hunting trip, Dunne attempts to capture all facets of the Arctic tundra: its wildlife, its threat from climate change, the lives of its first human inhabitants, the influence of "civilization" on its ecosystem, but most of all the beauty of the region. At times thoughtful, humorous, solemn, and offbeat; always informative and pleasant to read. Like the dreamy child dreaming of snowy climes in the first chapter, this book makes me long for a trip to the tundra.

The Technologists, Matthew Pearl
Pearl returns to Boston for his fourth 19th century-set mystery thriller, where a mysterious technological attack on the city—the disabling of all compasses in Boston Harbor on a foggy night, leading to destruction and carnage—begins to point a finger at the newly-opened Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which is feared and despised by its rivals at Harvard and its charismatic and temperamental notable naturalist Louis Agassiz. Marcus Mansfield, a Civil War survivor at 22 and the charity pupil at the new institute, plus members of his graduating class, the first at the Institute, including a lone woman who must study chemistry cloistered from the other pupils because science is not considered a "womanly" study, slowly become ensnared in the machinations of the twisted genius who continues to torment the city. When glass melts from windows and off watchfaces, the Institute's students decide to take matters into their own hands to hunt down the perpetrator.

This is a dandy Dickensian-like Gothic (and borderline steampunk) mystery-thriller, not quite so dense as Pearl's Dante Club (which is referred to). It also portrays the early days of MIT when its students and their studies were distrusted, and of the hardships a young woman incurred when trying to obtain a higher education; when the rich boys of Harvard held sway in society and the rise of technology both awed and frightened the population. I found this a page-turner from beginning to end, but be forewarned that you must be happy to read Dickensian-like prose to get the full enjoyment of this novel.

Marie-Grace and Cécile
Meet Marie-Grace
Meet Cécile
Marie-Grace and the Orphans
Troubles for Cécile
Marie-Grace Makes a Difference
Cécile's Gift
I'm a sucker for history, which means I can't resist each new incarnation of the American Girls. This new series puts a different twist on the usual progression of each girl (an introduction, school story, holiday story, etc.). Instead both characters are introduced in a paired set of books that tells of their meeting from each girl's point of view, then follows the girls switching points of view through one year and a pivotal point in time: the 1853 yellow fever epidemic in New Orleans. Marie-Grace Gardner is a doctor's daughter newly returned to her late mother's hometown of New Orleans, where her father sets up a medical practice, who meets Cécile Rey, daughter of a noted New Orleans stonemason, when she takes singing lessons. The Reys are gens de couleur libre, free persons of color, whose lives are much different than that of the slaves in the remainder of the South.

The epidemic is the main focus of the stories, but the girls also help out at orphanages overflowing with children whose parents have died of disease, and save a baby who is being sought by slave traders. (Parents, please note: a regular character does die in the epidemic.) As in all the American Girls books, the language is simplified for young vocabularies, which often makes the narrative a bit stilted. I also don't like the illustrations on the new books as well as I did the older ones; the expanses of flat color—gouache?—make the faces appear artificial most of the time, although there is at least one lovely illustration of the two girls at church.

All in all, I enjoyed the era as it was portrayed and the child's-eye-view of race, sickness, and sacrifice, but this is not my favorite entry in the series.

Vintage Notions, Amy Barickman
This is a nifty craft book with a focus more on sewing than anything else; nevertheless I really enjoyed it due to the vintage illustrations and text taken from Mary Brooks Picken's publications for the Women's Institute. Chapters are divided by month, with an inspirational essay, notes on attitude, fashion, and food, and one "magic sewing pattern" for each month, plus seasonal tips, and, as I mentioned, delightful 1920s illustrations from Picken's newsletters. Anyone into vintage women's crafts who wants a peek into the past should enjoy this volume. Just be aware it's a bit expensive; I bought it with a coupon!

Lessons from the Mountain, Mary McDonough
When she was ten years old, Mary McDonough won the role of Erin Walton in the television movie The Homecoming, which later was picked up as the television series The Waltons. McDonough played Erin for ten years (and then in six subsequent television movies) and had an almost universal positive relationship with her television co-stars.

Unfortunately behind Erin's sweet smile there lay a person who was beset by doubts, from childish fears to troubling teenage worries about her body and appearance. As an adult, she opted for breast implants to help her have a more positive body image and boost her career. Instead, it was just the beginning of massive health problems that endangered her life and the care of her daughter.

McDonough writes in a stream-of-consciousness style that may bother people who prefer more traditional narratives. As a Walton fan I enjoyed her memories of the series, and I was dismayed at the negative effect the implants had on her later life. I personally believe breast implants for cosmetic reasons are ridiculous and unnecessary, and felt bad that McDonough so disliked herself that she would opt for this "solution" to her image problems. It is yet another sign of the unrealistic ideas we have given to young women for years, that somehow having big breasts will make them feel "more womanly" and solve their problems. I wish her a brighter and healthier future.

Please note that this is not simply a memoir of McDonough's time on The Waltons. Several reviewers seemed disappointed that this was not the book's only focus. McDonough uses the word "mountain" to not only refer to the series' setting, but to the "mountains" she faced in growing up and with her illness.

Mockingbird, Charles J. Shields
Nelle Harper Lee, whose To Kill a Mockingbird became a classic upon publication, has been all her life an intensely private person. So author Shields was handicapped by not having the input of his subject in writing this memoir, relying on articles and other people's impressions of her to form his text, and I'm sure Miss Lee did not approve.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed this book because I liked the woman that emerged from Shields' research: an individualist, not concerned with fashion, perceptions of young women at the time, or criticism. She forged her own path despite family disappointment in her choices, and friends, classmates, and other acquaintances who thought her "an odd duck." We learn of the real-life town, Monroeville, AL, which inspired the fictional Maycomb, of Miss Lee's childhood with an emotionally troubled mother, her college years in which she honed her writing, and the gift of time she was given by friends to write To Kill a Mockingbird. A good part of the book addresses her friendship with mercurial Truman Capote, and the assistance she lent him while researching his book In Cold Blood. Capote pretty much comes off as I remember him from television talk shows: aggrandizing and flamboyant, yet with a veneer of insecurity.

If nothing else, you get some interesting glimpses behind the scenes of the film version of To Kill a Mockingbird.

Books Finished Since August 1

2011-08-31T23:33:00.057-04:00

The September Society, Charles Finch
I have to admit I was not completely thrilled with the first book in this series. Characters acted like no Victorian characters would act and the hero was continually complaining about his boots when he clearly has enough money to buy new ones. But I quite enjoyed this outing, in which Charles Lenox investigates the disappearance of an Oxford student, his one clue a reference to the mysterious "September Society," while trying to raise the courage to propose to his old friend Lady Jane Grey. The mystery is excellent and kept me guessing, but for me the main draw was the lovely portrait of Victorian Oxford, its various colleges, gathering places, and out of the way alleys.

As always, Finch allows modernisms to sneak in his dialog, which really removes me from the story. Characters say "Terrific" or that another character "is a wreck." I expect "Swell" around a corner someday. YMMV. And the fact that Lenox's lady love is named after a famous historical figure has always disconcerted me. But neither deterred me from the enjoyment of following Lenox through Oxford on the trail of clues. A period mystery that is recommended.

The Eighty-Dollar Champion, Elizabeth Letts
As a kid I delighted in Whitman Books, frugal "hardcover" (cardboard covered with cellophane-covered color art) volumes with non-acid free paper that is now yellowing, sold in the five-and-ten for 29 cents. They published classics like Little Women and Call of the Wild, TV-tie ins based on everything from Lassie to Wagon Train, series mysteries and adventures (Trixie Belden, Timber Trail Riders, etc.) and a final small category known as "Real-Life Stories" which featured sports stories, military stories, etc—including my favorite, a book with alternating chapters about real-life dogs and horses. It still sits in my library, the cellophane curling off the covers, the spine partially cracked, all due to loving reading and re-reading.

So it was with delight that I saw this book on Amazon Vine and the first thing I exclaimed was "It's Snowman from More Than Courage!"

I really enjoyed this story of riding school teacher Harry De Leyer and the stocky horse he rescued from the glue factory as much as I did the brief passages about the story so long ago. The author does pad the tale a bit, continually commenting on Snowman's stature or attractiveness, or the fact that he'd been a plowhorse at one time, but this did not deter me from the rest of the story about the De Leyer family's struggles and triumphs, Snowman's career, behind the scenes at horse competitions, and Harry's other equine hopefuls. I read the book in one sitting and would definitely recommend it for horse lovers.

Changes, Jim Butcher
It all begins with Harry Dresden receiving a telephone call from his old lover, Susan Rodriguez. Their daughter has been kidnapped by vampires of the Red Court.

It is a revelation to Harry, as he had no idea they had a child together. But Harry knows the Red Court, and he intends that their daughter should not stay in captivity long. But it will take every friend he has to accomplish a rescue.

One word review: nonstop. I think at some point Harry gets a few hours sleep. Otherwise he is marshaling his friends, gathering information, planning an attack, and trying not to run afoul of Government types who appear to be after him as well. Old friends and enemies make renewed appearances as the suspense builds and builds—and a further familial secret is revealed.

It is not exaggerating to say that Harry's life is turned in an entirely new direction due to the discovery of his child. If you've been following his adventures during the previous dozen novels, this story will be exciting, exhausting, and ultimately startling.

A Renegade History of the United States, Thaddeus Russell
Every once in a while it's fun to read an off-the-wall history book, and this certainly is one. According to Russell, it wasn't the founding fathers, those supposed bastions of freedom, who actually made the United States free: instead it was the outcasts of society—prostitutes, "Negroes," Jews, the Irish, Italians, drunkards, adulterers, homosexuals, fops, entertainers—who fought for our freedoms, against a society that would restrict them. There's an examination of the American work culture, which so many of these people flaunted (Russell makes the certainly inflammatory statement that slaves actually worked less than the religious- and work-constrained free citizens), and that society tried to mould them into. The first independent women were not educated "bluestockings" like Abigail Adams, but tavern-keepers and madams. Other chapters deal with how shopping and gangsters improved the United States, and how New Deal iconography and actions paralleled Nazi Germany.

This is definitely "not your father's history book."

Whether or not you think Russell is speaking rot or sense, this book tackles segments of society that you rarely see portrayed in history books: not the Big Names, but the everyday Joes. For that examination alone this book is worth reading.

The Victoria Vanishes, Christopher Fowler
Still troubled by the events in the previous White Corridor and Ten Second Staircase, elderly and eccentric police detective Arthur Bryant fears he's lost final touch with the world and his investigative sense as well. He's planning to hand in his resignation, and events aren't helped when he apparently sees a long-vanished pub during an investigation into a killer targeting middle-aged women at pubs.

Once again the Peculiar Crimes Unit tackles an unusual string of crimes while facing its own mortality; certainly this time they will be shut down, especially when dour Sergeant Renfield is assigned to "keep an eye" on them. Fowler mixes his usual offbeat humor and characters with the history and lore of the classic—and vanishing—English public house. Not as "meaty" as some of the other books, but a worthy entry in the series which sees the team facing an uncertain future.

Ad Nauseam, Edited by Carrie McLaren and Jason Torchinsky
This is a series of often tongue-in-cheek, but even more disturbing essays about the influence of advertising on our everyday lives and how it has permeated every corner of society, even down to children's elementary school textbooks. (Just the fact that more children could identify typefaces used in advertised products more quickly than they could birds and trees in their own backyards, and the comparison of tests from 1964 and 1988 will make you weep for modern students.) Articles cover how advertising changed over the years, how photos are truly worth a thousand words (and no ideas), how young people perceive advertisements posing as public service statements, how supermarkets are arranged to sell expensive luxury foods rather than staples, and more, with pop quizzes strewn among the chapters. At once depressing and infuriating.

The Native Star, M.K. Hobson
It begins when Emily Edwards, an accomplished herbalist, makes a love spell: her foster father isn't getting any younger, and their business of selling magical herbs and charms is slow due to a new mail order product, so Emily thinks marriage to a successful timberman who's always been a little sweet on her would be the best thing to provide for "Pap's" old age in their tiny Western town of Lost Pine.

But Emily's plan backfires spectacularly after she tries to help out at a zombie-run mine gone out of control; not only is she is rescued by the insufferable Dreadnought Stanton, a formidable warlock, but she ends up with an odd magical rock embedded in her right hand. When Stanton talks her into going to New York to consult with his mentor, strange things begin happening: pursuit, an encounter with a mysterious Native American spiritual guide...and that's only the first third of the book.

This is a delightful mix of opposites-clash romance story, steampunk Western, and world-in-which-magic-is-common, with Emily as the plucky heroine and Stanton as her reluctant guide. If fantasy and steampunk intrigue you, this may be just your cup of tea; while I bought it not sure I would like the plot, I immediately snatched up the sequel once I was finished!

Re-Read: The Number of the Beast, Robert A. Heinlein
I finally bought myself a copy of this book after reading it many years ago. It's from Heinlein's "sex is fun" period and there is an intriguing idea behind the story: not only alternate universes, but ones in which the worlds created in novels are real.

The story starts out (literally) with a bang: talented Zebediah Carter meets the beautiful and brainy D. T. (Dejah Thoris), a.k.a. Deety, Burroughs and her professor father Jake at a party given by sharp-tongued Hilda Corners. It's love at first sight for Zeb and Deety (and later Jake and Hilda), and the four plan a dreamy getaway—until Jake's car is blown up just before they get into it. Escaping in Zeb's nifty little flying car, nicknamed "Gay Deceiver," the foursome discovers the kerfluffle is all about Jake's time machine, an invention an alien entity is determined to kill them for. Next thing they know, the foursome are trading quips, endlessly arguing over who should be in charge, and exploring alternate universes—including a Mars radically different from their own and even the magical land of Oz—in fleeing from the "Black Hats." (Oh, yeah, and having lots of sex.)

Unfortunately, the story loses its focus and then strays into all-too-familiar territory when Heinlein's ubiquitous "Lazarus Long" and his family show up. (Surprise...more sex.) The very end is a jumbled mess.

Still, bits are to be enjoyed. And I want "Gay Deceiver." "Gay's a good girl!" "I bet you say that to all the girls." Yes, indeed.

Service and Style, Jan Whitaker
I read Remembering Woolworths some time ago, and have had a copy of The Grand Emporiums (a chronicle of department stores, most now, sadly, gone) for many years, so I was delighted to find this new history of department stores available. Whitaker covers the rise and fall of the department stores quite thoroughly, with rare but occasional bland prose, well illustrated with advertisements and photographs within the text (and with a color centerfold), including all the changes the stores attempted to make with the times, and the special promotions the stores ran over the years and through the seasons. It's a nifty history starting back in the days when stores had overworked "cash children" and then pneumatic tubes to make change, stores delivered your purchases with horse and wagon, and the ladies' wear department consisted of bolts of fabric, trim, and sewing supplies (only men wore "ready to wear" clothing in the 19th century), and continues through the years when womens' ready-to-wear made the department store, the tea rooms flourished, and Christmas windows became famous.

It's a pity someone can't write a history of the other "five and tens" to match this history of department stores! (This is a hint, someone!) Woolworths wasn't the only player out there...

Dangerous to Know, Tasha Alexander
Lady Emily, recovering from injuries suffered while trying to help an English girl in Constantinople, is not herself. Knowing her previous actions may have caused her miscarriage, she is moody and depressed, not impressing her imperious new mother-in-law, who wonders what her dashing son Colin saw in this listless woman. Then, while out riding in the Normandy countryside, Emily discovers the dead body of a young woman who appears to have been abused. Later, making the acquaintance of the neighbors George and Margaret Markham, she sees what she thinks may be a ghost.

One could not expect Emily to endure the ordeal of her previous adventure (Tears of Pearl) without being slightly changed. However, I wish Alexander had not rushed the marriage of Emily and Colin. Emily was just discovering her true self after her first husband's death, defying convention by studying Greek and drinking a "man's drink" (port), when she fell in love with Colin. However, Colin, despite his efforts to not restrict Emily's freedom, cannot help reverting to gallant Victorian gentlemen due to his love for her. So Emily spends a good deal of the book mourning her loss, and Colin being overprotective. While it makes it less satisfactory for the fans of a strong Lady Emily, it does intensify the air of Gothic suspense swirling through the plot, despite the distraction of an old friend and the puzzle of a missing painting. The end indeed gets quite creepy.

Just don't expect Emily at her best in this offering.

Harry Potter and History, edited by Nancy R. Reagan
This is a fun collection of essays about the Harry Potter universe and how it compares to actual history. While it strikes me that as a book more geared to adults it could use a little bit more history of "magic" and "witchcraft" in the actual world and a little bit less referral to events in the Potter books, it didn't keep me from enjoying each discussion. Essays I found particularly of interest were one chronicling the parallels between the Death Eaters and the Nazis, another talking about the use of parchment and scrolls, and especially the two concerning Hogwarts in comparison to actual British boarding schools, and the parallels of two Inquisitions: that in the Potterverse and the real-life persecution of Jews during the Spanish Inquisition. History buffs who are also Potterphiles probably will enjoy this volume.

Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend, Susan Orlean
We children of the 1950s and the early 1960s remember him well: the courageous German Shepherd dog who protected the boy Rusty in the days of the Old West. But "Rinty" had an earlier life, as a German Shepherd puppy rescued from the carnage of "the Great War" by Leland "Lee" Duncan, a dog whose hit adventure films saved the Warner Brothers studios.

I was almost as fond of The Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin as I was of Lassie, so in general I found this book enjoyable. We go behind the scenes of the original Rin Tin Tin's silent career, and of the sound serials done by his son, and then into the story is woven the tale of Herbert Leonard, the man who brought Rin Tin Tin to television. It is occasionally a sobering tale, as in the hardscrabble, bleak childhood of Duncan, the thwarting of Leonard's dream to create a new Rin Tin Tin series, and Daphne Hereford's problems in retaining the Rin Tin Tin name. For the canine lover there is also an examination of the changing role of dogs in the 20th century and a look at dogs in motion pictures. And for those fans of the television show, there is much material contained about this now-forgotten series, including the bizarre tale of a man passing himself off as Lee Aaker at autograph events, and some secrets about the dog himself.

My biggest complaint was that I thought the author inserted her own personality into the narrative a bit too much. Some of this stemmed from her own childhood recollections of Rin Tin Tin (including a statue of the dog owned by her grandfather), which I found understandable; still, I wish there had been less of it. However, to anyone who loved Rin Tin Tin in any incarnation, who is interested in movie dogs, or German Shepherd fans, you may find illumination, knowledge, and interest in Rinty's story.

Books Finished Since July 1

2011-07-31T23:08:00.004-04:00

UnSpun, Brooks Jackson and Kathleen Hall Jamieson
Thinking critically about "spin," whether it be political or the product of advertising. I saw this last year among the "required summer reading" books. Apparently some people wanted more specific things to investigate, like websites, politicians, and books, according to the reviews I read. This isn't a book that is partisian. Rather, it gives you examples of words, emotional triggers, and other propaganda tools that should make you "look twice" at a statement of "fact."

Trolls in the Hamptons, Celia Jerome
Willow Tate, graphic novelist, lives in her family's old New York apartment, envies her cousin Susan, and tries to cope with her odd family, who all have special gifts (grandma's a herbalist; Mom is kind of a "dog whisperer"). Belatedly, Willow discovers she has her own gift: working on a new idea, she draws a red troll—who promptly appears in real life, wreaking havoc on her neighborhood.

Via a sexy British representative of a hush-hush Department of Unexplained Events, Willow learns she's a Visualizer, someone who can bring a fantasy world alive. And, though desperately reluctant, she becomes involved with a kidnapped child, a boy Agent Grant tells her is being forced to break the barriers between the magic world and the human world. The more Willow tries to ignore the threat, the more it is brought home to her.

This is pleasant fantasy fluff with a strong romance novel element (Chapter 24 has a really steamy sex scene). Willow is a plucky but flawed heroine, Grant lends the proper male romance counterpart, and there are some funny quirky characters, including Willow's crusty mother, the deceptive "super" of the apartment building across the street from Willow's apartment, and even a three-legged Pomeranian. I'll definitely pick up the sequel, but be warned: if you're looking for hard fantasy, this isn't it.

The Penderwicks at Point Mouette, Jeanne Birdsall
In this newest outing with the Penderwick girls, the four sisters are separated for the first time in their lives. While Mr. Penderwick and his new bride (and her baby) are in England for a belated honeymoon, eldest Rosalind will be spending time with her friend Anna in New Jersey while Skye, Jane, and little Batty accompany Aunt Claire to a cottage in Maine.

It's a fun, but occasionally stressful adventure for them all: a guest they were told would not be accompanying them does arrive, Skye feels overwhelmed by her responsibilities as now oldest sister, Jane runs into an unexpected roadblock while doing research for her new "Sabrina Starr" book, and little Batty gets addicted to golf balls—and music! A neighbor and his dog add another spark of interest to the story, and, although at a certain point, as in the proceeding book, a plot point becomes very obvious, by then you are so drawn into the story you are eager to see how it all comes out.

This is such a delightfully old-fashioned book: although it's definitely the present (Aunt Claire and other adults have cell phones, and the books the children are reading are modern), the girls aren't overwhelmed by television and other technology, they explore, fight but don't cat-fight, and aren't drowning in girly "princess" stuff. As much as I hate sports, I wouldn't mind playing a game of soccer with the Penderwick family, and then discuss astronomy with Skye, writing with Jane, and take Batty to see a moose and her calves on a misty summer morning!

A Woman's Guide to a Healthy Stomach, Jacqueline L. Wolf
Since I occasionally suffer from various types of digestive problems, I was interested to see what this book had to say. It was a bit comforting to read the case histories in this book and to learn that "I am not alone," and that so many women felt embarrassed or frustrated by their conditions.

As this book illustrates, sometimes there are no "easy fixes" with digestive, reproductive, or elimination problems. Dr. Wolf takes various conditions—endometriosis, acid reflux, diarrhea, constipation, bowel irregularities, etc.—chapter by chapter, discussing causes and treatments for each. I found the charts, such as the one for fiber foods, and the one for which bacteria causes what type of food poisoning, very useful. I wish there had been a little more information on diets, but I suspect this can be solved by a more specialized book.

In summary, I found this a satisfactory overview about the subject, a good jumping off point for discussions with a doctor or further research on a particular issue (like celiac disease or IBS.

The Orchid Affair, Lauren Willig
In the present, perpetual grad student Eloise Kelly and her boyfriend Colin Selwick are in Paris, visiting Colin's mother and his odious stepfather, his cousin Jeremy. But in the world of Eloise's historical investigation of the British spy ring of the "Pink Carnation," Laura Gray, one of the newest graduates of the Selwick spy school, is sent on a delicate mission: to pose as governess to the two children of French official Andre Jaouen. Jaouen was once an ardent revolutionary, but, unknown to the Pink Carnation, is disillusioned at how the freedoms he dreamed of have been turned around by a new "aristocracy" ruled by fear.

Since this is a Pink Carnation book, you can possibly guess the outcome; the "fun" is the ride there, as Laura is endangered by the machinations of Gaston Delaroche and becomes friends with the enemy, including her two charges and their handsome father (shades of The Sound of Music). There's a deceptive lack of tension during a change of venue that builds to a corking ending, while Laura and Andre slowly pull back each other's layers to discover the real person within. A solid entry in the Carnation series. So when's the next? :-)

Unnatural Issue, Mercedes Lackey
Elemental Earth Master Richard Whitestone goes mad with grief after the death of his wife in childbirth and gives the raising of the child over to his faithful servants, until the day he sees eighteen-year-old Susanne from his window. She is the image of her late mother, and Whitestone's mad mind conceives the idea of bringing back the spirit of his wife and lodging it within his daughter's body. Luckily Susanne discovers the plot and flees; while the White Lodge detects traces of evil magic and sends Lord Peter Ansley to investigate.

There are several things to like about this book, the main being Lackey's Lord Peter Wimsey avatar, Peter Ansley. He and his faithful Bunter stand-in, Garrick, conceive a plan to track down the evil magic, and then to help Susanne, with the help of his landowning friends. I did think it a bit much that the avatar of Peter is also named Peter, and his friend is Charles, the same as in the Wimsey mysteries. Like the other female leads in these Elemental Master novels, Susanne is resourceful and no shrinking violet, and the portion of the book that deals with her service in the war is quite good. I also enjoyed the way Whitestone's real character was revealed as the story progressed. I did find Susanne a bit dull, however; not as compelling as Maya Scott, for example. I would get this from the library first, or wait until the paperback release.

Hallmark: A Century of Caring, Patrick Regan
Okay, it's a bit of a Hallmark shill, but it's supposed to be. This is a big coffee-table book packed with information about the founding, innovations, and family running of Hallmark Cards. If biographies of executives aren't your thing, there are special pages devoted to the different decades of card designs, insights into the artists behind the cards, including several pages about White House Christmas cards, several pages about J.C. Hall's parallels with Walt Disney, who was also raised in Kansas City, a chapter about television's Hallmark Hall of Fame, and more. This book can be bought at bargain prices, and at those, it is a worthwhile indulgence.

Queen of the Road, Doreen Orion
What do two successful psychiatrists do when they want a change of place? In the case of Doreen Orion, self-proclaimed home and possessions worshipper, and her husband Tim, they buy a custom-built bus and take a year off to tour the country (after a few months of working the bugs out of the vehicle's custom gadgets) with their standard poodle and two cats, including the one that starts out hiding the moment the bus moves. They travel to 48 states, discover the good and the bad about campgrounds, take in tourist attractions and the joys of visiting relatives, and encounter crickets and other "wildlife." Along the way, Doreen, who initially comes off as self-absorbed, agoraphobic, and frivolous(you'll certainly wonder how she ended up as a practicing psychiatrist), comes to realize that life in the great outdoors, without television and in the company of family and friends, is quite worthwhile after all.

This book can be quite funny, but you may wonder if Ms. Orion has an alcohol problem, given her penchant for concocting a martini for every occasion. She does touch on some neat places and personalities discovered in their cross-country odyssey, but your enjoyment will depend on how well you cope with her quirky personality.

Discounts, Deals & Steals, Readers Digest Books
For people over 50, advice on bargains for grandparents, for travelers, for everyday spending. A good book if this is what you're looking for.

Picturing Rhode Island, Maureen A. Taylor
I saw this book in Borders last year on vacation, but the high price tag made me gape. I found an excellent copy used instead, and in general I am pleased, but I wish they'd cut three-quarters of the "esthetic white space." The author advises you to use a magnifying glass to check out the details of the photos; I'd advise making them larger in the first place. This is a book, not a modern art gallery. The photos themselves are super; so many I've never seen before, or angles I've never seen before, of Downtown Providence and Newport, including a sequence of the State House being built, and the cleared landscape before I-95 was built.

What this book needed? Twice as many pages! :-) I couldn't believe there wasn't a picture of the old meeting house in Cranston, or the exterior of the old Normal School, or more of the downtown shopping district, or a few more modern photos of the amusement parks.

Into That Silent Sea, Francis French and Colin Burgess
When I read In the Shadow of the Moon (a book about the Gemini era in the American space program) three years ago, I didn't realize it was part of a series called "A People's History of Spaceflight" until I bought the volume about the Apollo missions. This is the book about the Mercury era—but what I found most fascinating was that fully half the book concentrates on the Russian Vostok program, with biographies of each of the Soviet astronauts, including Yuri Gagarin, Gherman Titov, and Valentine Tereshkova. Even more intriguing was a chapter about "the Mercury 13," thirteen women pilots, including the famous Jackie Cochran, who attempted to get the space program opened to women.

This is a super series of books for anyone interested in the space program; there is also a volume called To a Distant Day about the rocket pioneers, and books about unmanned spacecraft and Spacelab. Highly recommended!

Requiem for a Mezzo, Carola Dunn
Daisy Dalrymple only knows one of her neighbors is a gifted mezzo-soprano who lives with her husband and sister. But when she goes next door to borrow a baking item, she finds herself propelled into the lives of the narcissistic parents' favorite Betsy "Bettina" and her plain sister Muriel, Bettina's put-upon husband Roger, and their music students. Still, when Daisy and her Scotland Yard beau Alec Fletcher attend Bettina's performance in Mozart's Requiem, no
one's more surprised than Daisy—or more frustrated than Alec—when vain Bettina is poisoned onstage.

This adventure propels Daisy and Alec into the histrionic world of opera, where each of the suspects has a good reason for wanting Bettina dead, and dozens of alibis as well. There's an entertaining supporting cast, including Alec's faithful sidekick Sergeant Tring, the members of the opera company, and even a brief glimpse at Alec's little daughter Belinda, whose acceptance of "Miss Dalrymple" in Alec's life shows a preview of things to come. Another sprightly adventure in the Dalrymple series, although I guessed early who the real culprit was.

The Reading Promise, Alice Ozma
Alice's librarian father loved to read to his children's classes, and to his daughters. When Alice was ten, she and her father made a promise that he would read to her every night for one hundred days, no matter what. The one hundred days became a thousand, through colds and adolescence and arguments, then continued into a nightly habit until Alice's first day at college.

This is a book about a bond between a father and a daughter that seems to come about partially to compensate from problems with home life. Her parents' marriage was fragile and eventually her emotionally-troubled mother left, leaving her father to bring up two daughters. Her father held himself aloof from a social life so his daughters would not feel they had been abandoned. So their reading "streak" became a coping mechanism as well as a loving tradition.

Despite the melancholy behind this volume, there are several magical moments in this book, including Alice and her father watching a thunderstorm that reminded me of my own childhood. My mother kept me from being afraid of thunder by telling me it was "the angels bowling," and each loud clap became a strike, a softer one a spare. This chapter had a similar feel. For those who love books, or who have used books to get through those tough moments of their life.

(Note to the editors of this book: why is Alice selling her bicycle door-to-door? Oh, you meant she was pedaling her bicycle, not peddling it! Why didn't you say so?)

The Dime Novel in Children's Literature
I thought it about time I got to this one, which I bought with interest last year at DragonCon. McFarland is known for publishing narrow-interest, but excellent nonfiction, so I was a bit dismayed as I got into this one. There is much good information about the predecessors of books for children (hornbooks, broadsides, chapbooks, religious tracts) and the way dime novels/series books/pulp magazines were treated the way the internet is vilified today, television was in the 1960s, comic books in the 1950s, radio serials in the 1940s, and the movies in the 1920s, as bad influences on children. (Indeed, even novels were suspect in the 1700s.)

However, the book is pretty badly written, with stiff prose, repeated information, and often conflicting data. In one paragraph, five sentences one after the other begin with the same three words. There are noticeable typos, like "Blumfeld" for "Plumfield" in a list of significant children's books, and the author even states that Nathaniel Hawthorne created the character of Natty Bumppo (I've never read Cooper, but even I know who created one of the most significant early leads in American fiction!). If you are truly interested in dime novels and their influence and appeal to children, I suggest you find a used copy of the book.

Books Finished Since June 1

2011-06-30T23:54:00.059-04:00

A Dog's Life, a "Chicken Soup for the Soul" book
Enjoyable reading for the dog lover, with 101 stories following dogs from puppyhood to old age. Several are amusing, but most are touching, and many will make you cry. If you are familiar with the "Chicken Soup" format, you will know what to expect. Sentimental scoffers need not apply.

Treason at Lisson Grove, Anne Perry
While Thomas Pitt and his partner Gower head to France in pursuit of a murderer of an important informant, Pitt's superior in Special Branch, Victor Narraway, is dismissed in disgrace for embezzling money that should have bought an Irish informer's freedom and instead spelled his death. When Charlotte is told what has happened, she realizes she must help Narraway since Pitt's professional future depends on his keeping his post. Posing as his sister, she accompanies him to Ireland, where he hopes to ferret out the person from his past who blames him for a family death and who would gain the most satisfaction from his dismissal. It is not long before Narraway, Charlotte, and Pitt all learn they don't know who to trust, as it becomes evident both men were lured from London for some nefarious purpose.

One would not have expected Pitt's career to stay static, and after some years social gossip would have given away the identities of Charlotte and her sister Emily helping Pitt on the society-crime cases of the earlier books. Still, the stories have lost appeal since Pitt went from police detective to national security investigator. Missed is the investigative interaction between Pitt and his former partner Tellman (now married to Gracie Phipps, who makes a welcome cameo in this book), and the ways Charlotte, Emily, and the imperious yet sympathetic Lady Vespasia found to assist him. It also seems out of character for Charlotte to take matters in her own hands to quite the level she does, and the characteristic Perry examination of the supporting characters' underlying emotions, strengths and weaknesses has become quite superficial. For those of you joining this series on this, or the previous book, Buckingham Palace Gardens, please go back to the initial Pitt/Charlotte novels, starting with Cater Street Hangman, to read what this series had going for it in the past.

Demon Ex Machina, Julie Kenner
Once upon a time Kate and Eric Crowe fought demons together, but they abandoned that life for a normal life raising a child. But there was a secret Eric never told Kate: a demon had been bound to him from childhood. And then Eric was killed when their daughter was nine years old.

Now Kate is remarried and she and her husband Stuart, an attorney, have a toddler son together, and daughter Allison is nearly fifteen. Some time earlier demons had come back into Kate's life and one by one Allison, Kate's best friend, and finally Stuart became aware of it. And Eric returned, his spirit reborn in schoolteacher David Long. And now the demon inside Eric is growing stronger, and with the help of a Demon Hunter gone rogue, is about to escape.

This is a nonstop—except for past exposition—action entry (it looks like the final book) in the series of Kenner's "demon-hunter soccer mom," where Kate realizes that to eliminate the demon she will probably need to kill Eric as well. Repercussions to Kate's marriage, to her relationship with her daughter; to Allison's relationship with her best friend and with her father are all into play here. Definitely suspenseful, although for regular readers of the series the exposition may become tiring.

Angel With Two Faces, Nicola Upson
In this second of Upson's mysteries based on the real-life mystery writer Josephine Tey, the author is visiting friends in Cornwall for the summer while starting work on a new mystery. Nearby, her friend Inspector Archie Penrose has come back to home soil to attend the funeral of a friend, an accidental death which seems less accidental the more he investigates. Both Josephine and Archie become entwined with those closest to the case: the victim's twin sister and younger sister, a well-loved neighborhood schoolteacher, a young minister full of doubts, and more.

I did not like this second book so well as the first. One of my delights about the first book was how much like a 1930s-written book it was in language and attitude. This one seemed less so, and several events happen which all the characters, including Archie and Josephine, treat with a modern-day sensibility instead of the way people of the 1930s would have reacted. I did find the mystery fairly absorbing, and also enjoyed the description and information about Cornwall and the real-life Minack Theater, but there were reactions to relationships that I didn't understand the protagonists' calm acceptance of.

And while I hate to give spoilers, even though the relationship was consensual, this is NOT a book I would give to read to someone who has familial sexual abuse in their past. Please be warned about this aspect if you purchase this book for yourself or another.

Once and Future Giants, Sharon Levy
History is about to repeat itself. The prehistoric giants, mammoths, dire wolves, aurochs, saber-tooth tigers, etc., all met their end the same way, at the hands of the two-legged predators known as man. And now man is once again encroaching on the last of the giants, like elephants and whales.

I was raised on theories of mammoths and other megafauna having been made extinct by climate change, so the theory that man may have caused their demise was a new one to me. I used to devour books like this as a child and was similarly absorbed by this theory, plus the concept of rewilding to possibly return damaged ecosystems back to a healthy status. The idea of transferring endangered African species like elephants, lions, and cheetahs to replace their extinct counterparts in North America was intriguing. Also of interest were the chapters about the extinct megafauna of Australia, something I had done little reading about, and a surprising chapter about Nazi attempts to breed aurochs (wild cattle, whose forms were painted by prehistoric hunters) and tarpans (wild horses).

Rebirth of a Nation: The Making of Modern America, 1877-1920, Jackson Lears
The period of history that this book covers is my favorite in American history, with its combination of the progressive ideas of a group of reformers and the inventions and urbanization that changes the United States from an agrarian to an urban nation. I own several other books covering this period of history and was looking forward to the paperback publication.

In seven chapters, a prologue and a conclusion, Lear examines the highlights and issues of the era: the turning of the Civil War from a conflict chiefly to do with slavery to a romantic vision of battle, the deterioration of the rights of the freed slaves until "Jim Crow" firmly holds them in its grip, the rise of the wealthy industrialists and the "trust busting" that did little to break them, the "taming" of the West (and the inevitable subjugation of the native tribes), the sting of the eugenics movement, the rise of leisure time in the middle class, efforts to help the poor, the jingoism of rising imperialism, women's rights, and finally the destruction that was World War II. It's all presented with numerous anecdotes of the figures of the time, not just Theodore Roosevelt, John Rockefeller, Jane Addams, and William Jennings Bryan, but little mentioned but then well-known personalities like William James, Henry Adams, and the progressive southerners Tom Watson and Henry Grady.

Despite all this, I got the impression it was rather tossed at me pell-mell; not confusing as much as bouncing from one thing to another without taking a breath. Also, a running theme of the militaristic effects of "muscular Christianity" tied much of the anecdotes together.

A Bitter Truth, Charles Todd
This third in the Bess Crawford mysteries has returned to the complexity of the first volume, after what I thought was a disappointing second book. Bess has briefly returned to her London flat on Christmas leave, preparatory to joining her parents for Christmas. But as she arrives home, she finds a battered woman trying to warm herself in the doorway. Lydia, as Bess discovers through questioning, has been struck during an argument with her Army officer husband; Lydia also immediately clings to Bess and persuades her to accompany her back to her husband's home to confront him. Bess has no sooner arrives than she realizes Lydia's family by marriage is haunted by the death of a child years earlier. But it is when a man is murdered after a family gathering that Bess is drawn into something much deeper than dysfunctional family members.

This is a happy return to a complex family mystery as in the first volume. Bess' investigation into the family mystery seems much more natural than in the previous volume, and she is joined in a search in France by an intriguing Australian soldier. Her father's assistant Simon Brandon is again pivotal in the novel as well. I also enjoyed the atmospheric descriptions, whether it be of Bess' cold return to London, the bleak country surroundings she finds in Sussex, or the smoky battlefields and appalling fate of the war wounded. Bess herself is a favorite of mine; she is practical, if with a tendency to get caught up with anyone who asks her help, and reminiscent of Maisie Dobbs without as much of the introspection.

A Boston Miscellany, William P. Marchione
This is the delightful anecdotal book I first saw in the National Park Service bookstore in downtown Boston, and bought for myself at the Harvard Coop, a short history of the Hub from its founding to the 1920s, starting with William Blackstone, who later fled to Rhode Island and had several geographical landmarks named after him. Did you know that Beacon Hill used to be a very unfashionable address, containing the town workhouse and jail? That railroads began as a way to haul granite for building? That the prestigious addresses of Newbury and Marlborough Streets were once a fetid swamp? You'll read about Lafayette's visit to Boston, the construction of the first bridges to span the Charles River, the destruction of all but one of the hills upon which Boston was built, and more.

Assimilated

2011-06-07T20:47:00.007-04:00

It was only a matter of time until I bought an e-reader.

Actually, I've been reading e-books since 2002 when I got my HP Jornada. Three years ago, a couple of our friends showed up at Timegate with Kindles, more friends have purchased various brands in the interim, including Phyllis, who bought a color Nook, and a few months ago, unable to resist the price at a Borders liquidation sale, James bought a Kobo. I have all three of the "name" book reader apps on my Droid: Kindle, Nook (which is a whopper at 12MB), and Borders, plus Google Books reader and Aldiko, which reads the new e-book darling, .epub format (taking the title away from Mobipocket and Microsoft Reader, which were the two leaders when I bought the Jornada).

I'd always had an interest in a Kindle, as Amazon just sells so many books, but when the color Nook came out, I was intrigued. It functioned not only as an e-reader, but had a browser, and you could get magazine subscriptions since it was in color. And, to be frank, it had other allure: it's an Android operating system and you can hack them to make them operate like a Droid, or even boot off an micro SD card and operate on a Droid. (I'm twisted that way, but it would give me a giggle to use a Kindle app on a Nook. <g>)

Not to mention the fact that it's upscale. My dad used to say that if you asked me to pick out a certain electronic, I'd invariably head for the one with the most buttons and the highest price (he also claimed I could sense a bookstore at five miles <g>).

However, I've pretty much been fence-sitting since after Christmas. I still don't like the price of most new e-books. Printed books have an entire pile of expenses having nothing to do with the writing or editing of a volume: costs to produce paper and ink, cost for the printing, cost for the cover graphic and the book cover (and the hardcover if it's a hardback). An e-book must still be written and edited, but the formatting doesn't take any of the labor or the cost of printing (I know, since I've formatted e-books myself with ReaderWorks). So why do e-books, especially paperbacks, cost the same as a printed book? If I knew the author was getting that extra profit, it would be different, but I know they're not.

So I think you know the answer to this one: I bought the color Nook last Friday. Most of the apps cost money, so I have a couple of the free ones: the calendar, Word of the Day, and GoodReads. I downloaded Evernote but you need an SD card for it. It comes with a crossword app, Pandora, and a sudoku app (I hate sudoku).

And nope, I haven't bought any books—yet. Every Friday, Barnes & Noble's Nook blog features a free e-book. Lots of vampires and paranormal stuff, it appears, which I'm really not into. I did download a reprint of a 1930s Fodor's guide to Europe and a chick-lit type thing. Read a few samples. Mostly I have downloaded some stuff off Munseys.com, Gutenberg, and ManyBooks (a bunch of Angela Brazil books, which I've just discovered and as many of the ten Hildegard Frey Camp Fire Girls books as are online—I have the other two; one I scanned and one I bought) and the three James Potter books by G. Norman Lippert. (I just discovered these. They are fanfiction originally written for Lippert's family. Apparently they were put on line and at first J.K. Rowling's lawyers tried to have them taken down. But she found out about the contents, realized they didn't infringe on anything she'd already written, and said she didn't mind it. So evidently she has no intention of writing about James Potter [Harry's son, not Harry's dad]. So far as I've read, which isn't much, they're well written, but lack that little bit of mischievous humor that make the Harry Potter books a bit different.)

On the other hand, I may be investing in a few e-books soon. I've become interested in the Daisy Dalrymple mysteries after reading about them on a book blog, and bought the first three of the British editions really cheaply from Hamilton Books. They're light mysteries set in England in the 1920s. Trouble is, Daisy is up to book eighteen now, and nine of the "middle books" are out of print (they were published in the 1990s and early 2000s) and some of them are going for as much as $45 used (yes, for paperbacks!). I thought of ordering them from Amazon.co.uk (they are just being published in England) and really, £26 was not bad for six books—until I saw the postage, which was nearly as much as the books. £21! For the slowest postage they have. Yow! But I managed to find the fourth book on Deep Discount, and Barnes & Noble carries the rest of them as e-books for the same price as a US paperback. So...maybe I might be persuaded to pay that silly price after all.

Books Finished Since May 1

2011-05-31T23:47:00.116-04:00

Murder Your Darlings, J.J. Murphy
Dorothy Parker arrives early for her luncheon at the Algonquin Hotel with her fellow members of "the Round Table," a sharp-tongued company of writers and publishers, including the acid-tongued Alexander Woollcott and the whimsical Robert Benchley, and discovers, under that selfsame table, the murdered body of a newspaper drama critic. A young visitor from the South, callow "Billy" Faulkner (yes, that Faulkner), is suspected of the crime, and Dorothy juggles apartments and escape routes to keep the young man out of the clutches of the police, accompanied by her drinking partner-in-crime, Benchley.

With the police pursing "Mr. Dachshund" (Dotty's cover name for Faulkner), Parker and Benchley bounce from newspaper publishers to speakeasies to the haunts of gangsters trying to figure out who would want to kill the critic—with a fountain pen nonetheless!—and even manage to do some writing in the process. Murphy draws a vivid picture of Prohibition New York, to the point where Parker and Benchley's sheer volume of imbibing makes one cross-eyed. And the members of the Round Table may have been inventive writers and creators, but they certainly were an unpleasant bunch of comrades, even to themselves. Still, the book moves at a brisk pace, and if knife-edged repartee is your fortè, you may enjoy the wild ride.

My Life as an Experiment, A.J. Jacobs
I bought this off the remainder table and didn't expect much from it; it looked a lot lighter than The Year of Living Biblically and even Jacobs' first effort, The Know-It-All. In the end, indeed it is, but there are still several hilarious moments. Jacobs outsources all his responsibilities (to a company in India, nonetheless), tells only the strict truth for a month (you can imagine how that turned out), attempted to live by George Washington's "Rules of Civility," posed as a celebrity, attempted to find "the most rational toothpaste" (yes, honestly), and more.

As always, Julie Jacobs needs to be commended for putting up with A.J. The woman is a saint. And in total honesty, like A.J., I will tell you this is best bought as a remainder book. However, at that price, you should find something to enjoy.

Tolstoy and the Purple Chair, Nina Sankovitch
Nina and her sister Anne-Marie were brought up with a love of books. From childhood they recommended volumes to each other, purchased each other books, read together. Then Anne-Marie passed away at age 46. Floundering in grief and memories, Nina decides to take a hiatus in her life and read a book a day as a way of soothing her soul and honoring her sister.

It was a daunting challenge. I'm a fast reader and can usually finish a regular-sized book in a day, but I'm not sure even I could have kept up her pace. I'm not sure I would have been prepared to give up sleep and other activities to keep this tryst. But I enjoyed reading of her experience: of the books she read, of the memories they brought back, how they made her think or cry or laugh—or occasionally just be happy the book was finished and there was a new one the next day! She read fiction, nonfiction, profound books, light books, young adult novels, and more.

This book is for anyone who has loved books and for whom books are a refuge from sorrow, something you turn to for solace and inspiration. You will definitely understand.

White Corridor, Christopher Fowler
The war to close the Peculiar Crimes Unit isn't over: it has been arranged that a minor, tetchy royal will inspect their headquarters; surely what she sees will lead to an order to shut them down. If that isn't bad enough, senior officers Arthur Bryant and his more urbane partner John May have become trapped in a blizzard (and a murder investigation), while the rest of the unit must operate on their own, and solve the mystery death of one of their own, about-to-retire, superannuated coroner Oscar Finch, who expired in a room locked from the inside.

Fowler twists the unit, still bruised from their last adventure with the Horseman, into two parts: Bryant and May trying to help a young mother who's being stalked by a murderer while the rest of the unit works to solve Finch's death before the Princess' visit. As always in a PCU book, there is unexpected humor mixed with tension, the delightful eccentricities of each of the team members, and the mounting tension involved not only with the mother and her son being stalked, but the real danger of Bryant and May also becoming victims. I was a bit dismayed at the team being broken up for the story, but it did not fail. Another delight.

Cut the Clutter and Stow the Stuff, edited by Lori Baird
Really, all I needed was another book about decluttering...but I had this 50 percent off coupon at JoAnn...

This is a very practical, readable clutter book. The author firsts asks a series of questions to pinpoint what type of clutter you have, and then helps you work with it. She's very practical and does not suggest you go out to buy expensive storage solutions, or even plastic tubs, her theory being that you just toss the stuff in bins and really don't declutter. She offers a lot of low-cost solutions for keeping things under control, from something as simple as a board nailed across two-by-fours in your non-drywalled garage to corral brooms and rakes by their handles, using non-traditional pieces for storage like putting a baker's rack in the mudroom or a sorting hamper in the garage, and just a bunch of other useful stuff. Very enjoyable and enough to set off light bulbs over your head.

Ginny Gordon and the Lending Library, Julie Campbell
I picked this up at a used bookstore, having been a fan of Campbell's Trixie Belden novels since childhood, and having read that this resembled the Belden novels superficially: Ginny is always getting involved in mysteries, Ginny and her friends live in Westchester County [New York], they have counterparts in Trixie Belden characters (although I doubt if Trixie would have put up so patiently with the characters of the twins, Babs and Whiz, who always seem to be doing something stupid). In this entry, Ginny and her friends are starting a lending library in their small town and, inexplicably, two men are trying to find a specific copy of a new bestseller. Typical 1950s kids' mystery, with the biggest mystery to me how Ginny got any of her schoolwork done in between working on the library, trying to help a financially-challenged friend, and trying to find a companion for an older woman!

A Free Man of Color, Barbara Hambly
In 1833 New Orleans during Mardi Gras, Benjamin January is playing piano at a ball where white benefactors display their handsome mixed-race mistresses. Of mixed racial heritage himself, January is a trained physician who cannot openly practice in the United States and supports himself by teaching and playing music. When he meets a former student of his, a costumed white woman wildly out of place at the event, and she asks him to help her speak with the well-known but spiteful Angelique Crozat, he cannot refuse her.

And then Crozat is found murdered.

This is a complicated historical mystery that pulls no punches about the racial discrimination of 19th century New Orleans. January must find out who killed Angelique without implicating his former student, and risks being sold into slavery to do so. The novel contains a large cast of characters, both of Creole and American extraction, and is a fascinating portrait of New Orleans society before it became Americanized, but is no light mystery reading. For those who stay with the story, there are rich characterizations and situations.

The Alchemy of Murder, Carol McCleary
The first in a series of "unpublished" adventures of Elizabeth Cochran Seaman, otherwise known as crusading Victorian reporter Nellie Bly. Nellie's career including her incarceration in a mental institution (in order to expose the horrible treatment of the inmates) and traveling around the world in 72 days to beat the record of the fictional Phileas Fogg.

But "newly-discovered" manuscripts reveal that Nellie discovered a horrifying event while incarcerated on Blackwell's Island: a foreign doctor performing experiments on prostitutes. He escapes the United States, only to spend a short sojourn in London as Jack the Ripper, and then Nellie follows him to Paris, where the great Exposition is taking place. Here she enlists the help of Jules Verne, and eventually is assisted by the dissolute but charming Oscar Wilde and the elder biologist Louis Pasteur, entering the Parisian underworld in search of a madman. An epidemic looms over the city—but is it of natural causes or artificially produced?

This is a page-turner that takes Nellie from sewers to hospitals to the rough neighborhoods of the Parisian poor. Verne's initial hostility blossoms into something quite different, and there are chases through sewers teeming with rats, encounters in dance halls and sleazy clubs, a journey to the country stalked by cutthroats, as our heroes slowly realize a biological weapon is being born. Improbable, but addicting, except for one thing: it's another of these modern books where spell-checking is evidently done by computer. Nellie "shutters" instead of "shudders." Oscar Wilde wears "beeches" (nice trick) rather than "breeches." It breaks the crafted atmosphere and is really quite unfortunate.

The Wilder Life, Wendy McClure
Anyone who has ever loved a book series to the point where they wished they could have lived the adventures in it will feel kinship with Wendy McClure, who fell in love with the Little House books as a child. Years later, she finds one of the books among her childhood things after her mother dies, and re-reads and becomes obsessed with the series. With her patient partner in tow, she tries recipes from the books, and eventually visits each of the sites Laura Ingalls Wilder lived in.

If you are expecting a "tour" of the Ingalls sites, you will be disappointed, as some reviewers were. This is not a Laura Ingalls Wilder travelogue, but the journey of Wendy McClure, who is searching for a past that is not her own. She has some amusing journeys to each of the sites, and gives a portrait of the Laura-lore as it is presented at each home, from the pageants in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, to the loneliness of the prairie, but it is also the story of Wendy's reconciliation with her own past.

I really enjoyed this book, but nevertheless was a bit dismayed at one portion: her and her partner's reaction to the devout Christians they met at one of the sites. Neither of them is religious, and they referred to the Christians as "cult members" and other unpleasant names because they indulged in prayers and practiced disaster preparedness, possibly in case of the end times, which several of the group chatted about. I felt their reactions were rather bigoted. Would they have reacted the same way to Muslims praying five times a day, a Wiccan or a Native American performing a traditional ritual, or Catholics saying the rosary? The Christians they encountered treated them with nothing but friendliness and did not try to forcibly convert them. Could they not have been polite and tolerant? This really bothered me.

Legends, Lies & Cherished Myths of World History, Richard Shenkman
Given that I enjoyed Shenkman's I Love Paul Revere Whether He Rode Or Not and his similarly-titled volume to this, about US history, I was puzzled at the fact that I did not like this book as well as the others. Then I scanned some of the reviews of all three books and noticed that my opinion pretty well dovetailed with the others. The two US books were fun "bites" of American history, but while Shenkman admits straight out in the preface to this particular book that he's about to be Eurocentric, the book still seems gratuitously padded with jokes at the expense of the facts. The whole thing seemed like a lesser effort just to stuff some historical facts in humor. Very disappointing.

State Fair, Earlene Fowler
It's nice to see Benni Harper and hubby Gabe Ortiz "back on the job," as it were. This time Benni is helping out at the annual Mid-State Fair and enjoying a week of "bad for you" foods. A feature at this year's fair is an exhibit of reproductions of African-American quilts. Then the most complicated of the quilts disappears—and reappears wrapped around the dead body of a young white man who was dating a biracial girl who is the daughter of the fair's first African-American general manager. Could the death be racially motivated?

Since the quilting club and the manager are all Benni's friends, of course she can't help getting involved. But who might be responsible? Is the skinhead group in their midst too obvious? And why was the body stuffed in the family exhibit of a loudmouth car dealer?

The mystery shares several stages with other subplots, most prominently Benni's realization that racism still exists in San Celina. There's also a lively subplot with Benni's visiting great Aunt Garnet, who displays a surprising aspect of her personality and which lends a great deal of humor to the first half of the novel. Pleasing on several levels for fans of Benni, Gabe, Grandma Dove, and other returning characters.

[Note: Fowler has never made a secret of her Christianity, especially through Dove, Father Mac, and several other characters. However, it seems to be manifesting itself more heavily in the text in this offering. Some folks may find it unexpected or disconcerting.]

Mr. Monk is Cleaned Out, Lee Goldberg
Monk has too much on his plate. No there hasn't been a surfeit of killings in San Francisco; in fact, due to the downturn in the economy, the police department's let him go from his consulting job. He figures he'll live on his investments—until he finds out they're gone, his "investment counselor" accused of a gigantic Ponzi scheme of which he claims he is innocent. Monk not only considers him guilty, but suspects him of murder as well. What will both Monk and Natalie do without jobs? Worst yet, what will Monk do without water—his beloved Sierra Springs has also gone out of business! How long can he survive on water a teaspoon at a time?

This is the second book I've read in two months that involves the protagonists with economic downturns. The children in the previous book almost reacted better than Monk. As always in the novels, Monk seems to have more phobias than ever, and they can get intensely annoying. There is a nice confrontation between Natalie and her teen daughter Julie that shows Natalie's backbone, a humorous sequence in a pizza parlor, and a welcome appearance by Monk's agoraphobic brother Ambrose, but I didn't enjoy this one as much as, say, Mr. Monk is Miserable or Mr. Monk in Outer Space.

Time Unincorporated, Volume 2: The Doctor Who Fanzine Archives, edited by Graeme Burk and Robert Smith?
The title pretty much tells all in this collection of articles about the classic series of Doctor Who, some informative, some touching, some humorous. We learn about the Canadian roots of the series, series symbolism, "31 Things I Wouldn't Know If I Didn't Watch Doctor Who," essays for and against Jon Pertwee's Doctor (and another about his relationship with Jo), a look at the stereotyping in the classic "Talons of Weng-Chiang," women in the series, a closer look at Barbara Wright and Tegan Jovanka, as well as the Tom Baker era and John Nathan-Turner's tenure, examination of the Daleks, "20 Handy Tips for Survival in the Doctor Who Universe," and fifty more. You may not love every essay, but there's certainly something here for everyone. IMHO, a must collection for the classic Who fan.

The Mistaken Wife, Rose Melikan
In this third book of the adventures of Miss Mary Finch, heiress, and Captain Robert Holland, Army engineer and occasional adventurer, intelligence agent Sir Cuthbert Shy recruits a restless Mary to perform her most dangerous mission yet: she is to pretend she is the wife of an expatriot American painter and travel to Paris, a Paris in the wake of the Revolution and patrolled by menacing French officers, to keep the French from forming an alliance with the Americans against the British. At the same time, Holland has had troubling news of a new weapon, a boat that travels underwater. He also infiltrates France, knowing nothing of Mary's mission.

Needless to say, the two meet, sparks fly—and they must then race to complete their respective missions and then escape France before the gendarmes discover what they're up to. In the meantime, a faithful friend of Mary's preserves the illusion she's in England—but will the secret be kept?

Based on two real events, "the XYZ affair" and Robert Fulton's invention of a submarine, the suspense builds slowly until it's almost too late. A great combination of history and suspense, with two charming heroes who don't slobber over each other.

The Hardy Boys Mysteries, 1927-1979: A cultural and Literary History, Mark Connelly
What makes the Hardy Boys, created in the 1920s in a series of formula-driven, cheaply-published novels, enduring characters? Connelly addresses the mystery in this McFarland volume, which chronicles the early adventures of the Hardy brothers, Frank and Joe, through their 1920s exploits with "roadsters" and stereotypical minority characters through the 1950s when the books were rewritten and socially adjusted to the modern era where they fight terrorists with the latest technology. The characters are examined, how they changed with the times (and how the villains did as well), how the stories were corrected but became less challenging, how language differed over the years, how women were viewed in the series, and more. Connelly even tries to locate "Bayport," the iconic Hardy Boys hometown. A must for anyone who loved the Hardy Boys.

Royal Flush, Rhys Bowen
Lady Georgina has just committed a major social blunder: the penniless 34th-in-line-for-the-British-throne, young "Georgie," unable to find employment in any other field, decides she will hire herself out as a dinner companion to traveling businessmen. She soon discovers that "escort" means something a bit different than she envisioned, and is luckily rescued from a lascivious client by her dashing Irish beau, Darcy O'Mara. Then she is visited by an official for the Home Office, who asks her to return to her ancestral home a few weeks early. Someone appears to be trying to injure (or perhaps kill) members of the Royal family. So Georgie reluctantly returns to Castle Rannoch, to be enthusiastically and uncharacteristically greeted by her dour sister-in-law "Fig," who is being driven mad by visiting Americans (including Wallis Simpson, the inamorata of the Prince of Wales).

Georgie rather bumbles her way through this mystery, which throws all sorts of characters at one right and left: a sexy Italian speed demon, endlessly bathing Americans, a dashing woman pilot, a dismissed officer, a stalking reporter, Georgie's twinkling Cockney grandfather and her narcissistic mother—even the young Princess Elizabeth! It's a fun romp through another version of a legend addressed in a Robin Paige book.

In a Gilded Cage, Rhys Bowen
While attending a women's suffrage parade with her unconventional friends Sid and Gus and their former Vassar classmates, Molly Murphy is arrested, but rescued by her police office fiance Daniel Sullivan; via the parade private detective Molly also gains two cases: one old classmate asks her to find out the truth about her birth, and some time later Molly is contacted by another classmate who wishes to know if her husband is cheating on her. But when the latter woman abruptly dies, Molly wonders if there is more to the case than adultery.

I guessed "who" early on, but the "why" of the tale is a convoluted mystery that should keep most "gaslight era mystery" fans entertained. More interesting in this volume is Bowen's portrayal of an era when women were almost literally property of their men, unable to do anything without male approval, and the husband held sway; women who showed intelligence were called "bluestockings" and were persuaded to bury their education to become pampered creatures who were basically baby breeders. Molly is having her own struggle with accepting a marriage proposal; she likes being an independent woman as much as she loves Sullivan. It is a thoughtful portrayal for what intelligent women know was an infuriating era.

My one quibble: at least twice Bowen uses modern nomenclature which propels me abruptly out of the story. (For instance, a woman refers to a suspected homosexual person as "AC/DC." Say what?) Why carefully paint Molly's turn-of-the-last-century world and then use vocabulary that destroys the brushstrokes?

The Little Ice Age, Brian Fagan
At one time England and Newfoundland were so warm that vineyards flourished. The Vikings struck terror into neighboring countries because the ice packs had retreated enough to give them a freewheeling lifestyle.

And then climate changed. Bitter winters and rainy summers became the norm. Crops rotted, people starved throughout the late medieval and Renaissance periods into the age of exploration. The 19th century saw some conditions even worsen: when Mount Tambora erupted, the world suffered through "the year without a summer," where snow fell in June and frost killed ripening crops. Climate change led to the Irish being dependent on potatoes, which caused disaster when the potato blight struck.

This is a smart, readable text about the effects of climate change on people, society, governments, and ecology. Never simplistic, the text is accompanied by maps and graphs to further illustrate events and concepts.

A Witch in Time, Madelyn Alt
The little town of Stony Mill sees two more mysterious deaths, but it's the domestic complications of protagonist Maggie O'Neill and her family that drive this newest Bewitching mystery. Maggie's just about to tryst with her boyfriend Marcus Quinn when she gets the word that her "perfect sister" is ready to deliver. Pretty soon Mel is with twins, and Maggie has become trapped in an elevator, where she hears what sounds like a threat against a woman. Later on, she hears an argument between a man and one of the new mothers on the maternity floor. Can the two events be connected?

We spend the first half of the book involved with Maggie's family dynamics (in fact, it all takes place at the hospital) and the mystery doesn't really get going till the second half. Indeed, the story is more about Maggie coping with her overbearing mother, repercussions from the birth of the twins, Marcus' growing relationship with her, and a minor subplot involving Maggie's best friend. If you don't mind the story being light on mystery and you don't mind the "Grandma Cora" convention leaping to another level, you should enjoy this entry in Alt's series. Maggie's grandfather is a hoot!

Our Glorious Century, Reader's Digest Books
A super used bookstore find: a big coffee-table book published in 1994 as an overview to 20th century life in the United States. Crammed full of photographs, lithographs, drawings, maps, charts, and other visual aids, the book progresses era through era covering the political, social, and environmental issues of each time period, with the occasional two-page spread about fads that spread over the entire century, like automobiles, games, transportation, and more. A delightful cornucopia of American history.

The "Real" Lord Peter?

2011-05-02T11:01:00.004-04:00

In face only, at least. Apparently, Sayers based Wimsey's looks on Roy Ridley.

Books Finished Since April 1

2011-04-30T23:49:00.048-04:00

Coming into the Country, John McPhee
After watching series like R5Sons Alaska and Flying Wild Alaska, plus numerous nature specials taking place in the area, I was a natural to be drawn to this book by nonfiction writer McPhee in which he examines the wild landscape, the individual Alaskans, and even the politics of the Last Frontier. The book opens on a fishing/camping trip that McPhee takes with four other men, surveying the Salmon River, where he immerses himself in magnificent landscapes of river bottoms, tundra, and mountain slopes teeming with wildlife, fish, and insects—and learns how to successfully avoid grizzly bears. Next, a short chapter focuses on the conflicts between those who wish Juneau to be retained as the state capitol, and those who feel that the government in Juneau are out of touch with "real" Alaskans and wish to form another state capital. The last and largest portion of the book portray the stubborn, strong, opinionated, and often odd folks who live in the "bush," often under living situations most people would find primitive and/or horrifying, from a man who passed the winter living off the land and scant supplies with only his dog for companionship, to couples who eschew beautiful clothing and furniture for "roughing it," to rough individualists who chafe at government control. I enjoyed reading about the "bush" and also about the unusual people who live in it, but found the chapter about the capital quarrel a bit dull.

Staying Together, Ann M. Martin
Is this the end of the "Main Street" series? There certainly seemed to be signs of a conclusion, with characters taking stock at the end.

Ruby's "project" to make up for the wrong thing she has done appears to be making her a better person, but her older sister Flora knows better. The girls are not speaking, and their best friends Olivia and Nikki can't help but be affected. In the meantime, the economic crunch has come to Camden Falls and all the small businesses are doing their best to cope. Will Hilary's family have to move back to Boston? Will their efforts to fund-raise for the town community center be successful?

The best thing about the Main Street books is that they don't solely concentrate on the child protagonists, nor do they gloss over some hard facts (Nikki volunteers at an animal shelter, and is faced with abused animals and survivors of puppy mills). Several portions of the book focus on Mr. Pennington's search for a new dog; in another sequence Mr. Willet (the elderly gentleman whose wife has Alzheimer's disease) makes a momentous decision about his future; Robby, the gentle boy with Down syndrome, enters a new phase in his life; even the girls' Aunt Allie's life is changing.

If this is a wrap-up book, it ties up most loose ends. But I will certainly miss my visits to Camden Falls.

The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin
I was curious when this book came out, enough to go to Amazon.com to read reviews. Some of them were downright vituperative: "shallow, silly, stupid," all came up at various times. A frequent theme reoccurred: "What does Gretchen Rubin have to be unhappy about? She says...brags, some people insist...about her wonderful husband, kids, family, job, home.

I think they missed "the piont," as they used to joke on Ask the Manager. Rubin admits her blessings of home, family, and work right off, but wonders: "If my life is so good, why am I so unhappy so often?" This is Rubin's discovery of herself, and how making herself happy actually helps her family and friends attain happiness as well. She doesn't perfect anything, backslides and recovers, admits selfishness and frustration, but persists. It's her journey into what works for her, but any "happiness project" you do for yourself must center around your own needs and situations. I found her writing bright and interesting, and, while there is some repetition, it is usually to emphasize key points, not to fill space.

I felt inspired by Rubin's journey and hope to profit from it. I may never have a super job in New York City or adorable children, but happiness can be attained on many levels. Your mileage may vary.

Mistress of the Art of Death, Ariana Franklin
As a baby, she was found on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius by two scientists of the school of Salerno, a girl they named Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar. In a school which made no distinction between men and women, Adelia, as she is known, has not only been trained in medicine, but has learned to read from the bodies of the deceased the method of their death.

In other words, she's a coroner—and in a 12th century world. When four small children are murdered in Cambridge and the profitable Jews of the town are blamed, King Henry II asks the King of Sicily to send someone who will sort the means of their deaths. Along with her companions, Mansur, a Moor who acts as her bodyguard, and Simon, a Jew, Adelia is sent to England, a superstitious, religious-constrained, male-oriented England that would consider an educated woman a witch. Under cover of acting as a "wise woman" assistant to Mansur, Adelia slowly reveals the brutal nature of the crime—and that the killer is living among the people she has been traveling with, including a kindly abbot, a high-living abbess, a churlish knight and his kindly companion who have returned from the Crusades, and the former Crusader Sir Rowley Picot, who takes a shine to Adelia.

While Adelia does seem a bit more "liberated" than any medieval woman would be (including providing low-cal suggestions to an overweight man), Franklin does an excellent job of portraying medieval society and the living conditions of the unwashed, unlettered world around Adelia. Do be aware that the childrens' murders are very brutal and described as such, which may be disturbing to some.

Meerkat Manor: Flower of the Kalahari, Tim Clutton-Brock
This was a great find from the bargain shelf! If you followed the Animal Planet series Meerkat Manor, you will probably also enjoy this well-narrated, lavishly-illustrated book by Clutton-Brock, who headed the research project studying the meerkats. Indeed, the project had progressed over several years before someone had the idea to film the colony of meerkats, develop it into a narrative, and turn it into a television series. For that reason, this book covers more than Flower and her progeny, but begins with her own birth and puphood, and describes how she became the alpha female of the "Whiskers" clan. The observers are careful to be just that—the meerkats were given names only to keep from referring to them by confusing numerical identifiers—but it's quite amusing to see how the meerkats actually became used to the researchers and used them and their vehicles for lookout perches!

The Shanghai Moon, S.J. Rozan
When I picked this up I thought, "Wow, I haven't read a Lydia Chin story in ages." And ages it has been, at least a half-dozen year since Rozan's last novel involving this pair. When I finished I realized it had been worth the wait.

When Lydia is hired by Joel Pilarsky to look into a matter of missing jewelry, she never realizes how deeply she will become emotionally involved with the original owner of the piece, Rosalie Gilder, an Austrian Jewish girl who, with her brother, fled the country just before the Nazis captured the remainder of her family, and emigrated to Shanghai, and who left a legacy of letters behind. On the ship she meets a charming Chinese businessman who will shape her future.

There are several threads working in this mystery, including Lydia's rocky relationship with her now ex-partner, Bill Smith, and her attempts to get her contentious mother to move somewhere more comfortable, her family's connection to Chinese gangs, and the tangled lore of a legend that has become attached to the piece of jewelry known as "the Shanghai Moon," but the most fascinating portion of the story is the historical tale of the Jews who moved to Shanghai and formed a community there after being turned away by other supposedly freedom-loving countries. This was a historical event of which I had no knowledge, and I was as engrossed by Rosalie's tale as much as I was by the search for the "Moon" and a murderer. Great from first page to last—and, Lydia? don't be away so long next time!

The Anglo Files, Sarah Lyall
When Sarah Lyall married a British man and moved from New York City to London, she realized she'd have to face some culture changes: driving and language differences, for instance. But she also found some things that were downright perplexing or odd: the glacial speed of cricket, the eccentricities of nobility and the House of Lords, political and sexual banter, the legendary British habits of understatement and self-effacement, the Page 3 girls in the Sun, the unpredictable British weather, and more—and even hedgehog lovers.

Anglophiles may enjoy this wry volume that hides a bit of melancholy and frustration under Lyall's commentary. It's obvious that she's never quite fit in with the British lifestyle and it shows. In fact, many times she makes the British sound a bit pathetic, when all they have is personal quirks just like any other person of any other nationality. Still, I found it a fun read without taking the sour underside too seriously.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living Catholic Faith, Jack Canfield/Mark Victor Hansen/LeAnn Thieman
Perfect Lenten reading: 101 short pieces about faith, love, healing, consolation—occasionally even humorous recollections. Several of them can be applied to any denomination, but these are chiefly told from the POV of the Catholic faith.

The Year of Living Biblically, A.J. Jacobs
I hadn't read Jacobs' other book, The Know-It-All, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect of this book. I'd purchased it last year and pulled it out for Lenten reading. Jacobs, Jewish by heritage but not doing more than lending it lip service, decided to spend a year "living Biblically," trying to obey rules set by the Bible, eight months for the Old Testament, four for the New. He starts out in what I take is his typical quirky manner by having his clothing inspected so that he does not break the rules that say fibers of wool and linen should not be mixed.

The first thing I need to say is that Jacobs' wife Julie has to be the most patient woman on earth. When Jacobs said he was going to live by the rules of the Bible, he tried to meet most of them, including things like not sitting in chairs that a menstruating woman had previously sat in. Plus, given the idea and the book's cover, the whole thing sounded as if it might be flippant.

Well, he is a bit flippant, but not usually about the Bible, and in the course of consulting books, investigating other churches (as well as things like a Creationist museum and Bible discussion groups), talking to religious people as diverse as Amish farmers and snake-handlers, Jacobs' text often reminded me of points presented in The Happiness Project: that if we just took the time to slow down, be kind to one another, listen, and give something of ourselves, our lives just might be a little better. Offbeat but more insightful than you'd expect.

What on Earth Have I Done?, Robert Fulghum
In this latest collection of life essays by Fulghum, he talks about "the Mother Questions," those that your mom demands of you when you have been too full of yourself: "What on earth have you done?" "What in the name of God are you doing?" "What will you think of next?" and "Who do you think you are?" When Mom asks them, they are daunting enough...but in reality, they are questions to ask yourself for all time. The essays are grouped into threes, written in his own neighborhood in Seattle; from a second home in Moab, Utah; and from his vacation home in Crete (where he tells a delightful tale about his housekeeper). These later essays aren't as fresh as his earlier ones, but I had to bookmark this bit by Fulghum, I liked it so:
       Meanwhile, the trucks of fate roll by.
       The trick is not to get run over by one.
       The trick is to be there, alert, by the side of the road, with your thumb out. So that if the truck with your number on it just happens to come along, you will know. And you will get in and go. And the ride will be as long and as lovely as you always imagined it might be.

Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City, Michelle Nevius and James Nevius
This is the kind of history-combined-with-travel book I love. The Neviuses take us street by street starting at the Battery and the earliest settlement on the island of "Manna-hata," and then northwards as the city expands over the years. Many books of this sort print a photograph and a few lines, but this volume is jam-packed with facts and fascinating stories like that of "the Peach War," Castle Clinton (which later became the predecessor to Ellis Island), the oldest existing cast-iron building in the city, the revelation of just who is buried in Grant's Tomb, and other facts well-known or obscure. Peppered with black-and-white photographs, this is a great volume for anyone who loves history and especially that behind the metropolitan massiveness of "the Big Apple."

A Rather Lovely Inheritance, C.A. Belmond
Yes, okay, it's chick-lit. But it's light, charming, with a minimal mystery and a likeable heroine, Penny Nichols, a young woman who makes her living doing research for historical films. When Penny is named an heir in her Aunt Penelope's will, she makes the re-acquaintance of her handsome cousin Jeremy, now an attorney, and the acquaintance of her distasteful Aunt Dorothy and her dissolute cousin Rollo, and a whole passel of familial intrigue, including hidden bequests and a long-buried secret.

And thus begins an odyssey that crosses England, France and Italy as Jeremy's right to inherit is contested, and a mysterious burglary of Penny's new flat inherited from her aunt takes place. There's nothing deep or socially significant about this book—it's just nice light reading, with an appealing, spunky heroine, a dashing but moody hero, a few shady characters along with a few more with ulterior motives, the romantic history of lively Aunt Penelope, and foreign locales that will make you want to move to a villa in France or take a vintage flat in London. Just put your brain in neutral and enjoy.

Atlantic, Simon Winchester
Having grown up barely fifteen minutes' drive from an Atlantic inlet (Narragansett Bay) and spent so many summer (and winter) Sundays on the shore of this restless ocean, I was eager to read this new effort by Winchester.

As a whole I enjoyed this "biography" of the Atlantic ocean beginning with its formation after the separation of the super-continent of Pangaea. Winchester then uses as his framework Shakespeare's "Seven Ages of Man" to tell the story of man's relationship with the turbulent ocean: the Phoenicians' tentative steps onto the feared waves in search of murex dye, and other early explorations, followed by the great wave of European explorers, and then onward to stories of battles at sea, famous wrecks, the extension of technology across the ocean (the Atlantic cable, followed by the transmission of wireless), to the present-day worries of pollution and rising sea temperature affecting marine life. Despite this organization, the book occasionally feels scattered, with irrelevant tangents, although in total the history, legends, and tales collected are of interest, especially a history of trans-Atlantic shipping and the first packet boats.

This is my first foray into one of Winchester's books, so I came with no pre-conceptions of his writing style. Other reviews appear to have found something lacking in this volume. Perhaps, then, this volume is best read by Winchester neophytes, or those who really love the lore of the Atlantic and won't mind the occasional sidetrack.

For Molly Murphy Fans

2011-04-20T18:17:00.004-04:00

Are you a fan of Rhys Bowen's Molly Murphy mysteries? If you have a Kindle or a Kindle phone app, you can get a free, prequel Molly Murphy story from Amazon.com that will be delivered to your device when the story is released on May 10:

"The Amersham Rubies"

Whilst Wandering Through a Catalog

2011-04-19T21:44:00.002-04:00

When I name beloved books that I first read in junior high school—The Family Nobody Wanted, The Story of Walt Disney, What Katy Did/What Katy Did at School, A Wrinkle in Time, Have Spacesuit Will Travel, Especially Dogs, The Morning of Mankind—there is one I always forget to name, but the book itself is so memorable that I smile at its title just thinking about it: Laurie Lee's Cider With Rosie, although I first knew it by its American title, The Edge of Day.

This was a magical book. Lee was born during World War I and grew up impoverished but surrounded with the love of his mother and older sisters in a small English village. This was the first time I had ever read prose that sounded more like poetry; Lee's use of description and language was like a song set in paragraphs, a chronicle of his home and village life, and his adventures in growing up.

Google Books has some sample chapters of this extraordinarily lovely autobiography here; perhaps you too will fall in love with its delightful prose.

Books Finished Since March 1

2011-03-31T23:51:00.070-04:00

How Shakespeare Changed Everything, Stephen Marche
Well, really, he didn't; still, this is a lively small book about some of the major influences Shakespeare's plays have had upon our society: innovations in language, unique characters, even "modern" concepts such as racial equality—the opening chapter, about Paul Robeson's portrayal of Othello, presents an aspect of the play I had not heard of before—and teenage angst. Other chapters discuss aspects of the Bard I had read about previously (those who try to prove Shakespeare did not write the plays attributed to him, the fact that not much biographical information is known about the man, even one about the gentleman who released starlings in North America, determined that every bird mentioned in Shakespeare should be available to be seen in the United States—the starlings, of course, bred copiously and invaded native species' territories), and there was a short but interesting chapter the Booth family and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

This is not a book I would have gone out of my way to buy, nor is it remarkable, but it was enjoyable, easy reading, and might be a good text to spark a teen's interest in Shakespeare.

Ten Second Staircase, Christopher Fowler
Once again, the Peculiar Crimes Unit, with its elderly senior officers, the eccentric and acerbic Arthur Bryant, and the still urbane John May, is threatened with extinction when their supervisor complains to his superiors about his difficulties reining in the offbeat group. In the meantime, an artist is murdered in her own display at an art museum, with a school group nearby, by a mysterious highwayman on a black horse, an improbable criminal seen by one of the students.

As always Fowler deals with much more than the mystery originally posed: May's agoraphobic granddaughter April is lured from her home to work with the Unit, Bryant becomes troubled by the emotional disassociation of the privileged as well as impoverished youths they encounter during their investigation, and the ghost of an old investigation is purposely called up, that of the Leicester Square Vampire, a killer who claimed the life of May's daughter (April's mother). The hows and whys of the plot kept me guessing until the end, and I found much amusement in realizing how much I agreed with some of Bryant's complaints about modern society! Captivating and absorbing.

The Silver Guitar: A Julie Mystery, Kathryn Reiss
The Julie stories wig me out; it's impossible for me to think of my teenage years as now being "history." :-) In this outing, Julie participates in a fundraising project that will help birds and mammals harmed in an oil spill (a particularly timely topic) and meets a couple who collect priceless objects. They plan to auction some of these collectibles off to help the cause, including a genuine silver StratoCruiser guitar which belonged to a famous, deceased rock star. But when Julie's friend T.J. accidentally breaks the priceless instrument, the two kids discover that the guitar is fake.

While the mystery is fairly solid, the dialog in the Julie books always strikes me as being unnecessarily stiff. It sure doesn't sound like the 1970s I lived through. They also manage to mention deceased young rock stars without once mentioning drug overdoses, which I found intensely amusing. Another curious incident is T.J. being given the responsibility that gets him in trouble: the couple allows T.J. access to their house after meeting him once; it's a bit hard to swallow. This is not the best of the Julie mysteries, but much better than the first one.

A Family Affair, Caro Peacock
Once again Benjamin Disraeli summons Miss Liberty Lane to provide discreet information into a perplexing event: influential Lord Brinkburn is dying, and, inexplicably, his formerly retiring wife has circulated the shocking information that their eldest son Stephen is not legitimate; she claims she accidentally had sexual congress with a stranger in a hotel room in Italy and he was the result. Their younger son Miles, her favorite of the two boys, is the actual heir. Liberty, with a young urchin named Tabby in tow to play as her maid, poses as an artist who wishes to paint and sketch in a cottage on the Blackburn estate. In this way she hopes to gain the confidence of Lady Brinkburn and perhaps find out the truth behind this fantastical statement.

This third Liberty Lane adventure starts off at a gallop during the re-creation of a joust held by bored young aristocrats and never slackens its pace. Bit by bit, Liberty peels back the layers of the Brinkburn family, to come to some astounding revelations and an action-filled conclusion to the story. Yes, Liberty's manner still seems too modern for an early Victorian-era young woman--in one sequence she's actually running around the countryside in a robe and her underwear, and seems not very nonplussed by the fact--but our plucky heroine, the narrative, the interesting supporting characters, and even the medieval re-creations by the indolent young lords all add up to an appealing mystery-adventure.

Clue in the Castle Tower: A Samantha Mystery, Sarah Masters Buckey
Samantha and Nellie accompany the Admiral and Grandmary to England, where they are invited to the manor home of the Admiral's old friend, now guardian to his two mischievous grandsons. The lively boys seem nice enough, albeit being pranksters, so the girls decide to help when Henry and Ian are threatened with being sent back to their dreary boarding school after their grandfather suspects them of stealing valuable books.

Aside from the boys seeming a bit more American in their manners than English, this is a mildly interesting mystery. The Lady Florence character, however, seems just tossed into the story to show an independent British girl and add another suspect, and the tutor is rather colorless. The most interesting character is the maid who yearns for more education (although she reminded me a bit of Maisie Dobbs).

Make Room for Danny, Danny Thomas with Bill Davidson
This is an easy-to-read, amiable autobiography of television star and nightclub performer Danny Thomas, who started off life as Amos Jacobs, the son of Lebanese immigrants. One of eight children, Thomas was actually raised by the aunt who cared for him while his mother was sick after childbirth and her husband. He was determined go to into the entertainment industry and eventually did, working hard and eventually getting some big breaks due to friends. Eventually he became known nationwide as the star of the highly popular sitcom Make Room for Daddy.

This book may not be everyone's cup of tea—Thomas doesn't "dish dirt" or relate sexual escapades. By today's standards it's pretty tame! But as a fan of Make Room for Daddy and Thomas' charity, St. Judes, I found it enjoyable.

A Bundle of Trouble: A Rebecca Mystery, Kathryn Reiss
Rebecca's troubles are only beginning when she notices her brother Victor sneaking out at night. The same day a young couple and their small baby move into the Rubins' apartment building and Rebecca offers to care for the fretful infant away from the tumult of moving. She takes the child to the park, where she befriends an Italian girl taking care of her baby sister. But when she returns baby Nora, she fears the two babies have been switched—deliberately, as part of a kidnapping spree going on in New York City.

The historical details of this volume are much better than the previous Rebecca mystery. Reiss gives one a nice feel for how poor children lived and cared for younger siblings in 1914. For an adult, it will be obvious that one character must be the obvious suspect since that person has no other purpose in the story. Still, there are several mysteries working here at once, a definite improvement on the first story.

The King's Speech; How One Man Saved the British Monarchy, Mark Logue and Peter Conradi
Albert Frederick Arthur George grew up as a shy prince in the shadow of his effervescent older brother, first in line to the throne of England. "Bertie," as he was known to family and friends, suffered from a debilitating stutter that made him the butt of classmates' jokes and caused instructors to think he was slow-witted. Lionel Logue was a talented public speaker from Australia who emigrated to England with his family and successfully treated people with speech disorders despite having no formal training.

In 1926, tired of criticism of his public speaking and desperate for a cure, the Prince contacts Logue for help. What he did for the prince was nothing short of a miracle; the treatment became a godsend when "Bertie" found himself king after his brother abdicated in favor of "the woman I love," and, not soon after, the country was plunged into World War II.

This book is at its best in the first two-thirds, as it chronicles the life of the man who would later be George VI as well as the Australian upbringing of Lionel Logue, followed by the prince's decision to seek Logue's help and how the therapist helped him. Revealed are the prince's bleak childhood, Logue's youth in pioneer Adelaide, and of the close friendship that sprang up between the men, as well as a portrait of England in the first half of the 20th century. If you saw the film, are a history buff, or were simply curious about the story, you will probably enjoy this book.

The Mental Floss History of the United States, Erik Sass with Will Pearson and Magesh Hattikuduk
The Mental Floss folks hit the high points in this occasionally humorous overview of United States history, with summaries of each era ("State of the Union"), "Lies Your Teacher Told You" (actually misconceptions people have about US history, riffing on the van Loewen books), and sections like "Where My Gods At," "Other People's Stuff," "Trendspotting," etc. The authors try hard to stay impartial (especially near the end during the Red/Blue States controversies), and it's a nice, informative summary in digestible bites. In fact, there are some nice overviews of subjects many history books gloss over, such as indentured servitude, the ubiquitous colonial rum, Bacon's Rebellion, Lincoln's treatment of civil liberties, how Commodore Perry really "opened up" Japan to trade, and more, plus a tidy summary of presidents from Washington to Obama at the conclusion of the book. Super for history buffs!

The Winter Garden Mystery, Carola Dunn
The Hon. Daisy Dalrymple, her family fortune just a memory due to her brother's death in the Great War, must instead write articles and take photographs for "Town and Country" magazine to earn her living. When an old school friend invites her to the family estate, Daisy is overjoyed to find a new article source. But the household is unsettled: autocratic Lady Valeria is quarreling with one of the inhabitants of the nearby village, her vague husband retreats to his model dairy at the least sign of conflict, tomboyish "Bobbie" (Daisy's chum) keeps disappearing, and something is obviously troubling breathtakingly handsome Sebastian, Bobbie's brother, and his crippled tutor, Ben.

It is when Daisy is being given a tour of the manor's famed Winter Garden that another apparent secret of the estate is revealed: the body of Grace Moss, a housemaid who disappeared, is buried under a dying shrub.

Again, while the Daisy mysteries have so far mentioned repercussions from the first World War, they are not the thoughtful, psychological tales of Anne Perry's or Jacqueline Winspear's postwar novels. Although the war deaths are not treated lightly, rather, it is the bright 1920s, with snappy slang, flappers, and bobbed hair inserted into an English country house mystery. These are quite enjoyable "cozies" with a heroine who knows her own mind, and supporting characters that will remind you of early Sayers or Woodhouse.

Mother Was a Gunner's Mate, Josette Dermody Wingo
I found this at the library while I was there for a totally different reason (but isn't that always how it is?). It's the true story of Josette Dermody, "nice Catholic girl" from Detroit who joined the WAVES in 1944. She trains at Great Lakes and then is shipped to her duty station at Treasure Island near San Francisco to train naval Armed Guard antiaircraft gunners on the West Coast. Told in a delightfully brisk first person, Josette encounters sexist male compatriots, occasionally hostile female companions (one of her bunkmates is a deeply prejudiced Southern girl), not to mention the fears of her family at home (she never did get her father to understand why she joined up, a sore point with him) and her fears for her brother and ex-boyfriend overseas. Josette may not "see the world," but she certainly sees lives different from the world she grew up in, meeting German prisoners, Russian sailors, and the denizens of 1940s San Francisco. A must for anyone wanting to know about woman's contributions during World War II, or just wanting a good coming-of-age story.

The Vertigo Years, Philipp Blom
The years from 1900-1914 are known by many names, including the Edwardian era (although George V came to the throne in 1910, those four years are usually considered to be a continuation of Edward's reign until the first World War began) and "the Gilded Age." It's usually considered a quiet time of fabulously wealthy aristocracy, complacent middle class, and appallingly hideous slum dwellers.

Don't believe it. Behind the post-Victorian "calm" was a world already boiling with social change—suffragettes, sexual tensions, young men and women gathering without chaperonage, the theories of eugenics, the collapse of aristocracy, the flowering of psychiatry, the protest against abuse of colonial tribes—and mechanical ones as well: the rise of the automobile, aviation, and other technological advances. For years doctors had insisted only women suffered from nervous problems due to the fact that they were female and subject to "hysteria"; now more and more men were appearing with "nervous complaints," harried by the clock and the rush of industrialization, feeling emasculated by intelligent women.

Year by year, Blom deals with a topic particular to that passage of time: the Paris exposition of 1900, X-rays and radioactivity in 1903, the Russo-Japanese war of 1905, the suffragette movement in 1908, the rise of leisure time by 1911, etc. I really enjoyed this book and all the different topics and personalities it addressed.

Trio of Sorcery, Mercedes Lackey
There was no way I was going to miss this volume, after having read all the Diana Tregarde novels and existing short stories—not buy the book with the "long lost 'Arcanum 101'" in it? Lackey has talked about this story for years!

It's the first Tregarde story ever written, about Diana's first steps away from home and lodging at college, trying to balance study and sorcery. Along the line she gets an assignment from the police (discredit a fortune teller who's advising a woman whose little girl was kidnapped) and a "Scooby gang" comprising the students upstairs who become her first friends. There's some exposition for newcomers to the storyline which may be tedious to Tregarde fans, but it trots along at a good pace. The other two stories are "Drums," a short story based on the Native American characters in Lackey's novel Sacred Ground and an original tale, "Ghost in the Machine," about Ellen McBride, a "techno-shaman" who helps online game developers whose new "super-villian" is a lot more powerful than it should be. The Jennifer Talldeer story explores some interesting Native American legends, but the Ellen McBride story crackles with energy—I would definitely like to see more stories, or a book featuring McBride. Highly recommended for those of you, like me, who've been waiting for "Arcanum 101" for years, and the other two stories are welcome laginappe.

Behind the Scenes

2011-03-22T17:34:00.001-04:00

Oooh, look what's being released next Tuesday!

Lessons from the Mountain

(And while it has nothing to do with Mary's biography, there's a new Bryant and May book due out in September...)

Read an E-Book Week: Those Adventurous Boy Heroes

2011-03-11T21:32:00.006-05:00

Given the era of the boys' series books contained in e-book archives, it was a given that the boys would experience more adventure and danger than their female counterparts.

Boys were definitely boys in those days, and while the girls did get to solve mysteries, frequently face unpleasant people, and even encounter spies, the boys invented, fought in wars or against enemies, were shot at, participated in long trail rides or motor rides, hunted and faced wild animals (not to mention wild men—outlaws and such), occasionally used their fists, always used their wiles—and remained gentlemen to boot!

The granddaddy of all boys series' was the Rover Boys. They're quaint reading now, even for 19th century book fans: they speak in pseudo-British slang (the opening stories take place in the boys' boarding school, Putnam Hall, and their schoolmates were spun off into yet another series). During their adventures the boys age, eventually marry, and their sons take over the youthful tales.

Probably the most famous of the boys' series was Tom Swift. Despite decades of "tom swifties" jokes, the Tom Swift series was a serious set of books about young Tom, a budding inventor and his inventor father, and what seemed like the constant efforts of other, lesser inventors to steal Mr. Swift's blueprints, patents, etc. The first books discussed machinery like motorcycles and motorboats, which, while commonplace to us, were quite novel to the readers of 1910. Later inventions included electric guns and other more fanciful equipment. Tom, like the Rover Boys, aged, married, and had a son, Tom Swift Jr, who participated in more space-age adventures with rocket ships and ray guns.

As time passed, the boys' series leads were often paired with the newest technology. There were boy motorcyclists, boy radio operators, boy motorboat owners, boy motorists, boy submariners, and, of course, boys involved with the newest, most amazing invention of all, the airplane. There were several boy aviator series, most of which took place during "the Great War." Their names changed, but the plots mostly followed the same plots: the gallant American boys flying for freedom against the "Boche" (Germans), saving the helpless and foiling evil spies. (If you blanch at the thought of ten-year-olds flying airplanes, driving cars and motorcycles, and thwarting enemies, please recall that the term "teenager" had not been coined when these books were written. The "boys" represented in series books were usually seventeen to nineteen years old.)

A more typical set of boys to begin with were H. Irving Hancock's "High School Boys," initially a set of sports-themed books. "Dick & Co.," as they were often known, after their leader, Dick Prescott, also included Greg Holmes, Dave Darrin, Dan Dalzell (also known as "Danny Grin"), Tom Reade, and Harry Hazelton, all of whom lived in the town of Gridley and attended Gridley High. Well-mannered, honest "square fellows," they were nevertheless frequently tormented by the town bully and his toadies. Hancock followed with a summer series about the boys, and then, having exhausted their later schooling, wrote a series of "Grammar School Boys" adventures about them. Once the boys reached adulthood, however, they split into three groups, each with a series. Dick and Greg went to West Point, then became "Uncle Sam's Boys" and fought in Europe. (Dick, amazing as always, on his first day in the trenches spots a spy who has fooled everyone else, including the officers, for weeks!) Dave and Dan went to Annapolis, then participated in various famous naval encounters, including adventures in Vera Cruz. Very soon our young lads were officers commanding small ships! Tom and Harry took a less military approach and attended engineering school, then managed to be coupled on assignments in various wild places, including Mexico and Nevada, where they always earned the lasting hatred of the biggest, baddest gunslinger around (who, of course, they always bested with superior thinking).

One of the more unusual series was the five-book "Circus Boys" series. Phil and Teddy, two bored country boys, join...well, the circus, starting out as general dogsbodies and tenderfoot performers, and by the end of the series, due to their pluck, initiative, and staying power, have worked themselves up to be publicists for the show, before even hitting their 20s. It was an interesting look behind the workings of an early 1900s traveling circus.

Again, one cannot discuss these early series, boys' or girls', without mentioning the sometimes blatant, sometimes more subtle, racism that was included in the stories. One of the most memorable characters in the original Tom Swift series, for example, is Eradicate Andrew Jackson Abraham Lincoln Sampson, the typical minstrel-show African-American supporting character. While "Rad," as Tom calls him, often provides Tom with important "clews" and saves him, he also speaks in stereotypical "colored dialect" and prefers to travel with his mule, Boomerang. These sad individuals spot both boys' and girls' series, for both younger and older children: Dinah and Sam in the Bobbsey Twins and Hercules, the family retainer in two of the Frey Camp Fire Girls books (another stereotypical African-American provides a plot point in yet a third Frey book) are only two of many examples, which is why I was surprised to discover The Air Ship Boys by Saylor, which contained a young black character who spoke in dialect, but not as bad as other novels, and did not act the fool; while he did most of the scut work for his white companions, he was also considered a trusted guard and companion.

Most minorities and many ethnic groups came in for drubbing. The worst series in this respect was the Pony Rider Boys series, about a group of boys and their older escort, who visited various Western and wilderness locales on horseback, encountering rustlers, cheats, land grabbers, and other villainous types. I had a tough time making it through my first Pony Rider book, despite thrilling adventures, faced with such epithets as "greaser" and "spic" directed to every Mexican, "dirty savages" in regards to Native Americans, "Chinamen" to Asians, etc. As observed in my girls' series entry, it is not surprising white children who read these books came away with such racist attitudes, as these books were provided to them by people they respected: parents, relatives, friends, perhaps even clergy.

Again, however, I still maintain these books have much to offer. They portray the virtues the early 1900s' adult wished good, manly boys to have: honesty, courage, conviction, drive, steadiness; open a window to the technological advances of the time; portray the closing frontiers of the United States and even Europe; show how the First World War was "spun" as a great crusade even to the youngest citizens of the United States; and vividly point out what strides have been made in defeating cruel and ugly stereotypes. It is a trip back in time that displays the realities, good and bad, of the era in a much more honest way than more recently written books that try to pretend that such things were not common among educated persons.

Read an E-Book Week: Those Sturdy, Principled Girl Heroines

2011-03-10T21:58:00.007-05:00

Perhaps the most famous girls in series books are Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden, followed by Judy Bolton, Cherry Ames, and the other girl sleuths from the 30s and 40s, but they were preceded by an entire flock of earnest, principled girl heroines from early series books.

Not all of the stories these girls were involved in were mysteries. Some involved character studies, like the story of The Three Margarets (Margaret, Rita, and Peggy), all manipulated by their tyrannical relative to emerge friends, or slice-of-life stories in which girls like Patty Fairfield, Billie Bradley, and Nan Sherwood faced problems in growing up, or stories in which the girls embarked on newfangled adventures: they traveled in motorcars like "The Automobile Girls," appeared in the "flickers" like "The Moving Picture Girls" who faced rival actresses, or even flew "aeroplanes" like the Girl Aviators. Jean Webster's fun-loving Patty got in college scrapes but always came out fine at the end.

You can see the early face of girls' mysteries, however, in most of the series of the times. In between attending school, vacationing, and making their way through rivalries with other girls, our heroines usually managed to find missing papers and inheritances, make discoveries about lost children or adoptions, rescue abused kids, etc. Unlike the series of today, most of the girls were allowed to age, go from high school to college to a brief career, even to marriage. Ruth Fielding even finds a successful career as a movie screen writer, Ruth and Alice DeVere (the Moving Picture Girls) become actresses by accident (it's their father who actually wishes to become a film actor)

Typical of these girls were the Outdoor Girls. Dependable Betty Nelson, age fifteen, was the head of the little group—indeed, she is known to her friends as "the little Captain" due to her practical nature—who formed a "Camping and Tramping Club." The other members of the group are Grace Ford, who manages to keep a "Gibson girl" figure despite the fact that she always seems to have a box of chocolates on her; Molly Bilette, known as "Billy," the emotional member of the group (she's of French descent, you see, so she's excitable); and quiet Amy Stonington, who finds out to her great astonishment in the first book that she is adopted. Later in the series she finds out more about her real family. In addition, Grace's brother Will Ford and his friends appear, as well as Billy's insipid small twin siblings Paul and Dodo, who usually manage to blackmail the girls into giving them candy.

The one thing you will notice about all these girls' series is that the girls in them are chiefly in their late teens, but, despite the fact there are boys about, the girls do not spend their time mooning over them, or even obsessing about sex at all. It is a given that Betty likes Allan Washburn, and that Grace Harlowe, in her own series, is fond of Tom Gray (later her husband), but these girls have no time for boys until they reach their 20s. The same goes for the Camp Fire Girls, who are in their 20s by the time the series ends. It is refreshing to see supposedly old-fashioned girls acting so sensibly as opposed to their modern counterparts, who are obsessed with bodies rather than brains, looking good for boys, and being "princesses" when younger instead of independent women.

The other things emphasized are the girls' sense of virtue and fair play. They would never think of cheating or being deliberately "mean" to others, although they occasionally uttered a too-impulsive words or actions which they apologized for later. Grace Harlowe, Betty Nelson, the "Winnebago" Camp Fire Girls, Nan Sherwood, and their sisters would be horrified by the Gossip Girls.

Grace Harlowe was one of the straightest arrows in the series world. She was so "straight," in fact, that numerous girls in each year of high school and college attempted to "get even" with her by blackening her name. Grace spends several books being mistrusted by teachers, professors, or other authority figures because of resentful classmates. Yet she always managed to persevere with dignity and clear her name, and still have fun with her friends: Anne Pierson, a poor girl despised by her classmates who Grace takes under her wing; Nora O'Malley and Jessica Bright. Some of her enemies, like Eleanor Savell and Miriam Nesbit, later become her friends.

One of the more interesting series is that of Ethel Morton. In each of the Morton books, an educational theme accompanies the story line; for instance, in one of the books Ethel learns to cook healthful meals and grow fresh vegetables, in another book she and her friends learn decorating and designing a healthful and happy home.

One of the common topics of all the books written between 1914 and 1918 is the girls' participation in some type of aid during what was known then as the Great War. They knit, raised money, put together packages for European waifs, appeared in parades, bought Liberty Bonds, and otherwise encouraged their readers to help in the war effort. Of course, they occasionally caught spies as well! Hildegarde Frey's Winnebagoes even capture a German spy in The Camp Fire Girls Do Their Bit while defending their friend, Veronica Lehar, a Hungarian refuge.

An unexpected and interesting series is "Aunt Jane's Nieces." Louise, Beth, and Patsy are all summoned to their Aunt Jane's deathbed. She will leave only one of them her fortune, and tries to set the girls against one another, but instead they become friends. They also befriend Aunt Jane's ward Kenneth, who should be the recipient of her fortune, but she dislikes him. However, Kenneth eventually does inherit Aunt Jane's fortune, leaving the girls without support. Unexpectedly their Uncle John turns up. They believe him as poor "as a churchmouse" but it turns out he's rolling in dough and adopts all three girls, as well as appointing Patsy's father as his majordomo. The girls and Kenneth go through various adventures, including making a go of a farm, buying a newspaper, traveling to Europe, etc. The books touch upon some subjects that were surprising for girls' novels of their day: in one Kenneth runs for office and the girls help him politically.

The biggest surprise, however, of the series is that the Edith Van Dyne writing their adventures is in actuality L. Frank Baum of "Oz" fame. In fact, he wrote several other girls' series under a pen name, including the Mary Louise books.

These girls' novels are a window to the world of young women from 1900 through the 1920s. It is an eye-opener to see them emerge from the Victorian world where girls sewed samplers and painted china to vigorous young ladies who compete in basketball and tennis, drive automobiles, even start to lead independent lives even though there are expectations of marriage and children in their futures.

As in all the novels of this era, bigotry and racism sometimes appear. While it is sometimes painful to read, it also reminds us of how far we have come in racial and ethnic equality. It also explains to us how children of the era fell victim to racism and negative ethnic stereotypes, being presented as common and normal in these much-read volumes.

The next time you're looking for an e-book, try one of these old series. I have a particular fondness for the Hildegard Frey Camp Fire Girls (a series of ten books, eight which can be found online), but Betty Gordon, Grace Harlowe, Ruth Fielding, the Outdoor Girls, and others are all fun choices. If nothing else, you can smile at the quaint dialog, the funny medical beliefs, and even occasionally those annoying cutsey younger brothers and sisters!

Read an E-Book Week

2011-03-06T16:43:00.005-05:00

I'd planned to do an e-book post at some point, and this appears to be the perfect time. E-books are nothing new to me—just the concept of paying for them are! :-) I've been reading e-books since I bought my HP Jornada in 2002. One of the applications it came with was Microsoft Reader, which is the ".lit" format.

At that time there were no Kindles, Nooks, Kobos, etc. There were e-readers on Jornadas and Palm Pilots and other PDAs, however, in two formats that I knew about (there may have been others), Microsoft Reader and Mobypocket. The Jornada came with some fairy tales, but I later found e-books of classics on a University of Virginia site. Gutenberg.org also had e-books. Again, at that time these were public domain classics: Louisa May Alcott, Robert Louis Stevenson, Frederick Douglass, Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle, etc.

I hit the jackpot when I found a site called Blackmask.com. This site not only contained the same classics, but it also had pulp magazine stories and, best of all, old children's series books. Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys? No, these are still under copyright. But everything else, and much earlier than Drew or Hardy, all the way back to the much joked about Rover Boys and the original Bobbsey Twins (where they rode around in horses and carriages), and everything else.

(The owner of the Blackmask.com site was later sued for using Doc Savage and the Shadow pulps on his site, ignoring the fact that Conde Nast still owns these characters. The site vanished for a time, but is now back, sans Doc and Lamont, as Munseys.com. New e-books join the ranks daily.)

So here I discovered all the early girls' series: Grace Harlowe, Ruth Fielding, Betty Gordon, Nan Sherwood, and more. Plus the boys' series: the Pony Rider Boys, the High School Boys (later the Dick Prescott books, the Dave Darrin books, and the Young Engineers), the Boy Allies, even Tom Swift. It's all been great fun to peek into the past: fashions, mores, school customs, speech patterns, how the adults of the time expected girl and boy protagonists to act. Some of the plots are paint-by-number, sadly bigotry reared its head many times, language might be florid—but all of it has been interesting, occasionally fun, and I have even come to love some of these early characters.

I'm hoping to write more this week about the books I discovered, some characters I found endearing, and more during Read an E-Book Week.

The Peculiar Crimes Unit

2011-03-05T19:10:00.002-05:00

Bryant and May have their own website: The Peculiar Crimes Unit!

And there are at least two more books upcoming!

Happiness!

The Library Booksale: Titles and Thoughts

2011-03-04T16:16:00.004-05:00

The spring edition was this morning, and I was there not quite at the opening, but the earliest I'd ever been there, about a quarter to ten. (It was also a first, as I wasn't sick—for some reason every time the library has a book sale, I've either had a cold or gotten there after having not eaten lunch and wandered about, stomach growling and light-headed.)

I was agog at the crowd. I have never seen that many people at the sale. Not only was it difficult to move around, but more people than ever were dragging shopping carts, those rolling boxes with handles like a suitcase, or even real suitcases (when they weren't blocking the aisle with strollers). There were many young mothers or older people there, and many were stuffing bags, boxes, and suitcases full of books, a clear commentary on the economy.

I hit the children's books first, under the same cockeyed optimism that I will find some older books as was common in the 70s and 80s book sales. Sadly, most used book stores and sales usually just have piles and piles of Babysitters Club, Goosebumps, and modern paperbacks. Unfortunately, I never do find Betty Cavanna or Janet Lambert, or Augusta Heuill Seaman, or the Scholastic Books we didn't have money for when I was in school, like White Ruff or Always Reddy. I did see a vintage bio of George Washington, but passed it up. I got one of the Katie John books, though, and a Ginnie and Geneva, and picked up Gone-Away Lake, which is a classic that I've never read. I also found a small press book that was stuck with the biographies, about a boy growing up on Martha's Vineyard.

I checked out both the hardbacks and the paperbacks in more forlorn hope that someone had discarded some of the Carola Dunn books I'm trying to find, looked over the travel, nature, and craft books, and then scoured the biographies hoping that someone had been careless and donated a copy of Colonel Roosevelt. However, I did find American Eve, the story of Evelyn Nesbit, and a biography of one of my television favorites, Danny Thomas.

There was a nice collection of Christmas books this year, half craft stuff and the other half mostly Mary Higgins Clark books, the John Grisham Skipping Christmas (which I absolutely loathed), David Baldacci's The Christmas Train (loved it), some Jan Karon. I found an interesting recipe book from the 1960s that had traditional recipes in it, like syllabub and mulled wine and other historical- or ethnic-based ones. And then a total surprise.

Many years ago in the original Atlanta Borders store I found a trade paper volume called A Worcestershire Christmas. It was short selections, photos, and drawings of Christmas celebrations in Worcestershire, England, published by Sutton. Well, here was a similarly-sized book, same format, also by Sutton, called A Surrey Christmas! I'm wondering now if there were a series of them! (OMG, just checked Amazon.co.uk—there are dozens of them, looks like for each shire in England, plus volumes like Bronte Christmas, Thomas Hardy Christmas, London Christmas, Great British Christmas, Medieval Christmas, Country House Christmas, Gilbert and Sullivan Christmas, etc. ...wow!)

Anyway, I was still poking about in the children's book area when a mom came behind me with two small kids, maybe about age four or five. The little girl had picked up a book and was trying to give it to her mother. Her mother said, "You've already read that book; I'm not buying you a book you've already read!" Not "a book you already have," but "a book you've already read." Is this not depressing? It's not like the book cost a fortune! And why should the kid not have a book she really loved and wanted to read again? I have so many books I love to re-read; they are as dear as old friends. What's wrong with buying a book that's already been read?

Later, as I was perusing the art books, a woman came up behind me with two older children, probably around nine or ten. It sounded like they were being homeschooled, because mom was looking for books about artists for the children to learn about, and when I pointed out a book about opera to her, she picked it up to check it because the children were going to see a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta soon. They were dragging a library cart behind them with an entire, fairly new set of the World Book Encyclopedia, and I wanted to give them a sunny smile and say, "Oh, what a wonderful time you're going to have with that!" I can still tilt my head to the left and see my set, the ones my mom gave us as a housewarming gift, and remember my original one from 1963 with the pebbly red "library finish" that my Cousin Eddie Lanzi sold us. I would see something on television and say, "Mommy, is that true?" and she would say, "Go look it up in the encyclopedia!" and I would. I read all the volumes through at least twice. Through its pages I visited different countries and climates, discovered the world of flora and fauna, read about scientific discoveries and literary gems—and the people who created them, got to know saints and sinners, heroes and villains.

Now I can surf anywhere and see anything via the web, but nothing will ever be quite like the magic of that first World Book!

Books Finished Since February 1

2011-02-28T23:54:00.038-05:00

Intrigue, Mercedes Lackey
Mags, the wretched orphan rescued from mine work by being Chosen by the Companion Dallen, is progressing well at the new Collegium being built, but he still remains a solitary character with only a few strong friends: Bear, gifted with knowledge of herbs; Lena, a Bardic student desperately trying to do something outstanding so her talented but narcissistic father will notice her; and Amily, the handicapped daughter of the King's Own Herald, Nikolas. He is trusted enough to do little spying missions for Nikolas—until a group of Farseers have a vision of what seems to be an assassination attempt on the King with a "foreigner" involved, and Mags is the only "foreigner" in residence. And it's then that Mags' solitary life starts to work against him, as he is suspected by fellow students and courtiers alike, despite the fact he has become a star player in a new game invented to help the Heralds simulate battle situations.

I have been reading books about Valdemar since the first, Arrows of the Queen, was published. Mags' story still feels a bit like Talia's with some changes in it (if you remember, students bullied Talia as well, and even tried to drown her). This time everything conspires against our hero; even his best friends (granted, under great duress) desert him. Mags' situation just becomes worse and worse until he is driven to rock bottom; it is not an easy story to read (nor should it be, since he is under such stress, but it is a hard slog). Plus there is entirely too much time taken up with the Kirball games, which, as other critics have pointed out, bear a remarkable resemblance to Quidditch on horseback. Mags being good at the game makes him a few more real friends, ones who appreciate him for himself, not just his playing, but the descriptions of it get tedious fast, like reading an old-fashioned boys' sports book. I'm sure the training will serve Mags and his friends in some way in the final book of the trilogy, but for now the play-by-play is a tad tedious.

I would wait for the paperback on this one.

The Sisters Grimm: Magic and Other Misdemeanors, Michael Buckley
In Buckley's delicious mish-mash universe of fairy tale characters of all persuasions, things are deteriorating at a rapid rate. Sabrina and Daphne Grimm's parents are still in an enchanted sleep, the murderous mayor of Ferryport Landing (the Queen of Hearts) has levied an enormous tax on the remaining human members of town and left the despicable Sheriff of Nottingham to enforce her laws, and someone is stealing magic items for an unknown purpose. How will Granny Relda find the objects and pay the tax?

The most intriguing thing in the story is a glimpse into a possible future due to time rips opening and closing within the town. A character who disappeared in a previous novel has returned and talks the sisters into helping look for the stolen objects; what the person has suggested sounds sensible, but is there something behind it? It will be interesting to know in future books if what the girls see is their actual future or just an alternative they may want to change.

Murder on Waverly Place, Victoria Thompson
Sarah Brandt, midwife, has just recovered from finding out the truth of the murder of her physician husband, when her wealthy mother comes to her asking for help. Mrs. Decker has consulted a spiritualist in hope to contact her older daughter, Sarah's sister Maggie, who was driven away from home when her parents disapproved of her marriage, and who later died. Sarah disapproves, but goes with her mother in hopes of proving the spiritualist, an Italian girl, is a fraud. Instead, she is witness to a murder of another attendee.

This is a very talky entry in Thompson's "Gaslight Mystery" series. Frank Molloy, Sarah's love interest, is the investigating officer, and we learn a good deal about how spiritualists dupe their clients. A whopping coincidence helps solve the mystery, and there is no real progress in the Molloy/Brandt romance. The narrative was good enough to keep me reading, but the mystery is rather lukewarm.

Napoleon's Hemorrhoids, Phil Mason
"And Other Small Events That Changed History"
This is a British-published trade paperback that will please any history lover who likes bits of trivia about historical situations. As the title explains, these are tiny bobbles in history that could have led to vastly different futures had they not happened. My only complaint on this book would be is that the sports chapter is totally unnecessary; who cares about results in sports? It's not like a differing result makes any difference in history. Really, forty years later, who cares about "the Heidi Bowl" except a few fans of the sports teams involved?

The Ninth Daughter, Barbara Hamilton
Abigail Adams arrives at the home of Rebecca Malvern and knows immediately, frighteningly, that something is wrong. Rebecca, a woman who contributes to the causes of the Sons of Liberty, and who lives in poverty since being driven away from her wealthy husband by his jealous children, has vanished and another woman is murdered and horribly mutilated in her kitchen. Later the Sons of Liberty cover up the murder evidence because Rebecca knew too many secrets about them—and John Adams himself becomes one of the suspects in the murder. It is up to Abigail and British Lieutenant Coldstone to find the murderer and Rebecca—if the latter is still alive.

Despite some of the slightly improbable situations Abigail is involved in, including scoping out a strict religious colony with faithful Sergeant Muldoon, Hamilton brings daily life in Revolutionary-era Boston and the outlying towns of Massachusetts Bay come alive. Aspects of everyday living, politics, and religion are vividly portrayed. Hamilton's Boston is populated by characters both good and bad, some facing universal problems: people who marry into a family who resents her, spoiled children, abusive religious leaders, adults with problem parents. She creates British characters who are fully realized, not just two-dimensional enemies of those who seek a break with the British monarchy. Abigail is also an appealing protagonist who must juggle her investigations, her friendships, her household duties, and her role as wife and mother.

Please note that this book, while looking like a "cozy" because of its setting and protagonist, does contain some strong, unflinching scenes of violence.

Looking for Anne, Irene Gammel
Have you ever enjoyed a literary character so much that you wondered how the author came up with the idea for him or her? Since Lucy Maud Montgomery is no longer around to ask, Irene Gammel has investigated the various aspects of Montgomery's life and environment that combined to become the immortal Anne Shirley, heroine of Anne of Green Gables. As with most characters, you will find that Anne is a combination of Montgomery's life experiences while reading something of the author's troubling and often lonely life; what you might not know is that the original image for Anne's "look" came from a notorious American girl whose name was soon plastered in newspapers across the country.

Some readers will find troubling the author's inferences to Montgomery's—and perhaps Anne's—sexuality. Anyone who reads Victorian and Edwardian books that contain strong girls' friendships will note that today these behaviors often indicate lesbianism: girls held hands, danced with each other, had crushes on older girls and gave them little love-tokens, etc. Maud herself had friendships like these as a girl and then refuted them in adulthood. Since being a lesbian was forbidden territory then, there is no way to know how many of these friendships were more than that. I did not mind nor did I find such suppositions a handicap when reading this book, and found the various origins that combined to make Anne a fascinating example of how an author combines bits of reality and fancy to create a character.

Verily, Verily, Jon Sweeney
Two of the most quoted books in the English language are the King James version of the Holy Bible and the plays of William Shakespeare. In this small, appreciative volume, Sweeney recounts the history of the English-language Bible, starting from publishers who risked death to translate the standard Latin version into the vernacular: Wycliffe and Tyndale. When eventually it was published in English, the Geneva Bible held sway until James I required a Bible that would unite the English.

Sweeney also deals with unintended humor in the KJV, how renown authors used it in their works, immortal verses and apt proverbs, and the role of the KJV in modern life despite its archaisms (a glossary to many of the words is provided at the conclusion of the book). This is a nice overview of how the KJV came to be and its impact on society.

Side Jobs: Stories from the Dresden Files, Jim Butcher
These are short stories based in the universe of Harry Dresden, "Chicago's only practicing wizard," as chronicled in Butcher's 12-book (and growing) series. The first is Butcher's first attempt at creating a universe around Dresden, which also recounts his first meeting with Karrin Murphy, his contact at the Chicago police, followed by a short vignette Butcher wrote to promote the series. The remainder of the stories, save one, have appeared in various fantasy anthologies over the years, and the final story is an original published for this volume.

Well, I enjoyed them all, even the first which Butcher claims isn't quite polished. In the short stories he has taken opportunities to deal with Harry's world from other POVs, so we have a story from the point of view of Harry's half-brother Thomas, one concentrating on Billy and Georgia's wedding, one about Michael's enforced retirement after the injuries he sustained in Small Favor, and even one which teases the "'shippers" of Harry/Murphy. Even Harry's big Temple dog Mouse gets in some good action.

Warning: the final story takes place after a major plot point in the book Changes. If you haven't reached that story yet and don't like spoilers, I'd avoid the story. Good piece, though, told from Murphy's POV.

The Land of Painted Caves, Jean M. Auel
After many years Auel is releasing the sixth, and supposedly last, book in the Earth's Children series (although I read somewhere Auel has enough material for a seventh novel). Even if you have never read this series, you have probably heard of it via, if nothing else, the Daryl Hannah film of the first book, Clan of the Cave Bear. Hannah played the protagonist, Ayla, a Cro-Magnon child orphaned by an earthquake and raised by Neanderthals.

The first few books had a specific theme. Cave Bear was a "fish out of water" story. The second book, The Valley of Horses, is a survival story until right at the end where Ayla meets her soulmate, the handsome Jondalar. The Mammoth Hunters chronicles how Ayla learns to live with others of her kind, and is adopted by the people of the Lion Camp. Other adventures happen in The Plains of Passage and The Shelters of Stone, but they seemed anticlimatic.

In this book, Ayla prepares for her Zelandoni (spiritual leader) training by taking a pilgrimage to the sacred sites: the painted caves, culminating in a tour of Lascaux. In a way, that is one of the problems with this book: as Ayla, Jondalar, their baby and later young daughter Jonayla, and the First (the head spiritual leader) tour each of the tribes who live around the sacred spaces, the same things happen over and over: each must be introduced with their long titles, people must be amazed at Ayla's foreign accent and her way with animals (she has tamed two horses and also a wolf which she raised from a cub), the travois on which the First travels, etc. Although I understand Auel's need to describe everything to illustrate to the reader how the Zeladonii (Jondalar's tribe) live, the sheer description becomes daunting. Plus there is a large cast of characters, and while there are a dozen or so who stand out, after a while the names begin to blur. Is this man the drunken one, or the nice one? Is this woman the flirt, or the helpful one? One also wishes young Jonayla had been given more to do.

In the third part of the book, Ayla undergoes a revelation that will change the way the tribe sees itself, and the story moves a bit faster. Unfortunately, it also rehashes a plot from a previous volume. If you have invested yourself in the characters previously, you will probably be more patient with Auel's long-winded narration. Just be warned: it's slow going.

Books Finished Since January 1

2011-01-31T23:44:00.051-05:00

Sherlock Holmes For Dummies, Steven Doyle and David A. Crowder
One hundred years have passed since Doyle wrote the stories and novels that comprise the canon of Sherlock Holmes. Today Holmes is still popular, with films, novels, and television series being written around the character and his loyal friend Dr. John Watson. So this is a primer to Doyle, Holmes and Watson, and the canon, in addition to mentioning the pastiches that followed, in a lively style that only wants you to remember that neither Holmes nor Watson were doddering middle-aged or old fellows during the majority of the stories, but were young chaps (as portrayed in the modernized British series Sherlock). Everything is covered through the Robert Downey Jr Sherlock Holmes film. Plus note that Holmes never said "Elementary, my dear Watson," or wore a deerstalker hat through the streets of London (a deerstalker is exactly what its name states; it's a hunting hat, for wear in the country).

The only problem I can see with this book is that Doyle and Crowder repeat the same error that many have made: they refer to Dashiell Hammett's "series" of "Thin Man" books. For once and for all, Hammett only wrote one book with Nick and Nora Charles, The Thin Man. MGM was the one who spawned a series of "Thin Man" movies.

The Best American Mystery Stories 2010, edited by Lee Child
Otto Penzler points out in his forward that very few mysteries are detecting stories anymore; more's the pity. There are about three straight "detecting" stories here—many of the rest are what I would call suspense stories, or even thrillers. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the majority of them, although the ones with more gruesome narratives were my least favorites.

Notable among the stories are an excellent Sherlock Holmes pastiche, "The Case of Colonel Warburton's Madness," in which Holmes turns his sleuthing eye upon a story told by Dr. Watson about his experience in San Francisco with a patient exhibiting signs of insanity. Author Lyndsay Faye has Doyle's narrative spot-on. Doug Allyn's police procedural "An Early Christmas" had appealing characters on both sides of the law and a nice solid mystery. "A Jury of His Peers" by Jay Brandon, set in San Antonio, Texas, at the time of the Mexican War, was also a favorite, mixing an actual historical incident with a fictional mystery. Both "Designer Justice" and "Custom Sets" are tales of revenge rather than what I would term as mystery, with nicely built suspense and satisfying endings.

The one story everyone seems to have enjoyed and praised is the Kurt Vonnegut piece; I really did not enjoy it all that much. "Dredge," involving a traumatized young man and a drowning victim, was unsettling and creepy. As always, peoples tastes vary. If you are a mystery/thriller/suspense fan, there is a good chance all or some of these stories will appeal to you.

The Tale of Applebeck Orchard, Susan Wittig Albert
There is a very slight mystery here—who set Farmer Harmsworth's haystack on fire, leading him to bar the footpath through his land, one which has been used for generations—but there is more interest in what the human denizens of the Lakes villages of Near Sawrey and Far Sawrey have been up to. Will Captain Woodcock ever realize how Miss Nash, the plain but endearing schoolteacher, feels about him? Will young Gilly Harmsworth escape the clutches of her abusive aunt and uncle? Will Lady Longford allow her granddaughter Caroline to attend college to study music? And, most importantly, will Beatrix Potter and attorney William Heelis finally acknowledge the admiration they feel for each other?

There's also a subplot with the badgers at the Brockery, and of course the village animals, including Max the Manx cat who is looking for permanent abode, have their noses stuck firmly in the footpath controversy, but they are mere distractions this time to the human emotions boiling about them.

Christietown, Susan Kandel
In the fourth Cece Caruso mystery, Cece has her hands full with her own wedding preparations to police lieutenant Gambino and the impending birth of her first grandchild, not to mention the visit of her ex-husband, his fiance, and her mother. At the same time she has been asked to revise a chapter in her biography of Agatha Christie, and is involved with the opening of a retirement community called "Christietown," where the homes look like little English cottages planned around a British "high street." Part of the publicity includes a Christie play—but suddenly the leading lady turns up dead.

Cece's family and friends provide much of the highlights in this book, especially one person who Cece unexpectedly finds herself friends with. The idea of a little English village town in a desert area seems a bit absurd, though.

A Celebration of The Good Life, Richard Webber with John Esmonde and Bob Larbey
This is a marvelous trade paper volume all about the classic British comedy series starring Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal, Paul Eddington, and Penelope Keith, chock full of publicity photos and text about the creation of the series, creators Esmond and Larbey, the four principal actors, the locations used, and even a few pages at the end about real people who "chucked the rat race" and practiced self-sufficiency (but none of them in Surbiton, of course!). If you are a fan of the series, you are certain to enjoy this book.

Inventing George Washington, Edward G. Lengel
Famous persons are almost always surrounded by legendary stories, and none so much as George Washington. Well into the 1920s and 1930s, children were still taught the "cherry tree' legend made popular by Parson Weems, and George Washington quotations and events attributed to him (such as the probably apocryphal situation where he was caught praying at Valley Forge) are still being mentioned by politicians of all persuasions.

You will be disappointed if you are expecting a biography of Washington; it is not that at all. Rather, it is about how successive generations have perceived him: as godlike hero, as rakish man-about-town, as distant aristocrat, as evil slave-owner. Lengel points out that, due to the cavalier regard which with Washington's papers were treated—not only did Martha burn all their correspondence, but one descendant cut pieces wholesale from his journals and rearranged them to suit himself, and often gave away or sold letters, so that much of what is left has either disappeared or is in the hands of collectors who are keeping their mouths shut—most of the stories cannot be substantiated. Many of the inspirational stories that were told about Washington come from secondhand sources, or from the memories of aged soldiers and comrades who revered him.

While the Revolutionary War time period is not my forte, I found this book absorbing and well-narrated, and even sometimes surprising, as I had no idea there was a group that believes George Washington encountered...wait for it...space aliens!

The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society & the Birth of the Modern World, Edward Dolnick
We are surrounded by science. Every day some new technical or medical discovery is made. We live knowing the arrangement of the solar system, geometry, of gravity, orbits, and trajectory, and even if we don't understand the mathematics very well, by physics and calculus. (Well, unless you're "Snooki," of course.)

Dolnick takes us back to the time of Newton and his contemporaries: one of disease, death, and imminent apocalypse. It isn't just a world without industrialization or technology, it's a completely different world of thought, one where everything occurs because God wills it so. To deny it you risk censure, brutal physical punishment, and even death. People still believe in witchcraft, astrology, "the humors," possession by demons. And yet in this time Galileo, Newton, and others made their discoveries, in many cases to confirm God's creation of a perfect universe, and come to "wildly improbable" answers: planets do not circle in the perfect form of a circle, but in ellipses; the Earth is not the center of the universe nor the the worst place in it, mathematics alone can tell you unmoveable truths.

He also shows us Newton and others of the Royal Society, who guard their discoveries the way a prospector guards his gold strike, and who can be quarrelsome, selfish, rude, capable of dreadful experimentation on animals and men, including themselves. To a Liberal Arts major like myself, he makes the scientific discoveries clear and presents these "paragons" we have read about in science and math class as ordinary human beings who presented extraordinary ideas.

A Lesson in Secrets, Jacqueline Winspear
In the previous novel, changes in Maisie Dobbs' personal life have set her on a new course in her investigations. In the newest book, a bridge is beginning to form between the repercussions of the Great War and the yet unknown second World War, while Maisie is asked by the British secret service to take a position as philosophy teacher at a new university in Cambridge which preaches a philosophy of peace, to investigate whether any activies taking place there are subversive to the Crown. The head of the university is a man who wrote a children's book about the war so filled with pacifist leanings that it was banned by the government and was rumored to have caused a mutiny at the front lines. Maisie is not there long before the man is murdered. While Scotland Yard investigates, Maisie continues her own inquiries, and, a bit too priescently, I thought, warns the Secret Service about certain of her students with Nazi leanings and the party itself (which, of course, the Government types ignore). There is much more for Maisie to learn about the man's life and the secretary who disappears following the death, about the German professor that steps into his place and the wealthy man who funds the school.

In the meantime, Billy Beale works on the case brought to them by Sandra, a young woman whose husband died due to an accident at work. As the story progresses, both Maisie and Billy suspect the accident wasn't one at all. Maisie's old friend Priscilla and her family are drawn into this portion of the story.

Maisie's relationship with her new love progresses slowly in this outing, but those who read the Dobbs books know it's in Maisie's nature to take things methodically. Her dad is also making some change in his life. Readers who like the earlier stories of Maisie dealing with repercussions of the First World War may dislike signs of the next appearing, but Winspear is not allowing Maisie to remain static in a postwar world. Several of the cards are played early in the mystery, but all-in-all I found the story and characters appealing.

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Edmund Morris
The first book in Morris' trilogy about Roosevelt, followed by Theodore Rex (his presidency), and Colonel Roosevelt (later life, including opposition of Woodrow Wilson), this is a rich biography of a complicated man. While it is evident that Morris is a Roosevelt fan, he also shows us Roosevelt "warts and all": his neglect of his eldest daughter after her beloved mother dies, his hunting excesses even as he champions against developing wild spaces, his temper, the way he cannot understand his ill and alcoholic brother's weaknesses despite his love for him. As in every portrayal of him, Roosevelt seems larger than life: Western explorer and cattleman, New York dandy, a rising politician fighting a wave of competitors used to the spoils system after elections, a man who reads prodigiously, wrote an acclaimed book on the Navy before he was twenty-five, and who seemed to survive on little or no sleep.

Morris' narrative is bursting with detail, especially in an evocative prologue that places you in line waiting to shake hands with President Roosevelt on the White House's annual New Year's open house (a practice that would, sadly, be forbidden today). The frozen Dakota prairies, the stinking New York slums, the heat- and insect-riddled morass that confronted the Rough Riders, the summer days at Sagamore Hill all come alive under Morris' pen, not to mention the constantly moving contradiction that was Roosevelt himself. Okay, I must admit I found the political bits occasionally dull, but as a whole found this readable without being simplified. Recommended especially if you are a "TR" fan.

Dark Road to Darjeeling, Deanna Raybourn
Sated (literally) after an eight-month honeymoon, Lady Julia and her brooding, brilliant "private inquiry agent" husband Nicholas Brisbane accompany Julia's older sister Portia and her restless brother Plum to India. Some time earlier Portia's former lover, Jane, yearning to have her own child, married Freddie Cavendish and returned with him to The Peacocks, the tea plantation he had inherited. But now Freddie has died under mysterious circumstances and Jane is afraid she or her child may be the next target.

Going hand-in-hand with the mystery element, which ecompasses the Marches' impoverished cousins Emma and Lucy, a free-spirited American women with two intriguing children who is married to a staid minister, a drunken doctor, and an older Englishman known as the White Rajah, is the often rocky relationship between Julia and Brisbane. She is determined to show him she can be an equal partner in his crime inquiries, to the point of being rude and demanding. In his turn, Brisbane will not allow himself to be led by the nose. They are two independent spirits who will need to find as much balance in their professional life as in their marriage bed, and it's as much fun watching them clash as it is to make your way through the convoluted conundrum posed by Freddie's death. The newlyweds pound the pillows a bit much, though. :-)

Meet the Malones, Lenora Mattingly Weber
While the remainder of Weber's celebrated "Beany Malone" series focuses pretty much on practical, stubborn and occasionally dreamy Catherine Cecilia Malone, the first book revolves around Beany's older sister Mary Fred. The book opens with Mary Fred bringing home Mr. Chips, an injured horse she bought with money she saved for her first formal dress—but she needs funds to complete the purchase. On the way home, she encounters younger brother Johnny, who has caused a fender-bender on the snowy road with a woman delivering eggs. Johnny, an aspiring writer, promises to make good for the eggs and repair the fender, meaning he can't keep the new typewriter he was hoping for. And, at home, thirteen year old Beany desperately wants money to redecorate her room and rid herself of the nursery pattern she hated even as a child.

Their father Martie Malone, a famous newspaper columnist, has a chance to take a plum assignment in Hawaii covering the war news (Pearl Harbor was attacked only a few weeks earlier). When their housekeeper leaves, he allows the children to take over her chores to earn the money they need. But crises keep popping up: older sister Elizabeth returns home now that her soldier husband has shipped out, with a new baby; Johnny is trying to write a book about the history of their home state of Colorado with the help of a tottery old journalist, and right when Mary Fred is managing everything perfectly, the school's star football player makes the moves on her. With stars in her eyes, Mary Fred forgets family, friends and horse in order to make herself over for him. Then the real trouble arrives: Nonna, their kind but used-to-being in charge step-grandmother. Will the Malone children acquise to Nonna's every wish, or will they keep their independence and self-respect?

This is a lively, mostly happy look at life in wartime America, but it has an underlying theme about the price you must pay to get the things you want, and if it is worth sacrificing your principles for them. Weber's books are fondly remembered by her fans, and if you're a fan of 1940s era teen fiction, or just want to experience what life was like back then, you will enjoy the adventures of the Malones.

Walking English, David Crystal
It's a bit of a cheat this being here, as I haven't quite finished it yet, but I'm over halfway through and having so much fun with it I must put it in.

For someone like me, who loves language and history and who is, if not a born one, at least a long-time Anglophile, this book is the literary equivalent of an angel presenting me with a box of dark chocolates filled with all my favorite fillings—mint, orange, coffee, caramel, and that heavenly lime from Sanborn's Candies—and telling me I can eat all I feel comfortable doing so, since they have no calories and no fat! Basically Crystal starts off in Wales and relates travels through England as well as in Poland, San Francisco, and South Africa in a narrative of place names, word origins, history, changes in word meaning, Shakespearan plays and names, that Welsh town with the long name that the locals just refer to as "Llanfair,' placing people by accents, sheep with accents, and more, all in a delightful candy-box jumble. I suspect I shall be sorry when the book finishes, but right now I'm just enjoying it all with a big silly grin.

A big plus: learning about the humanitarian poet John Bradburne and the book town of Hay-on-Wye. I think I'd like to spend a week in the latter, thank you. :-)

Books Finished Since December 1

2010-12-31T23:47:00.000-05:00

None?

No, plenty, but they've all been reviewed in Holiday Harbour under the "Christmas Book Review" banner.

I did finish one book, however, which was not Christmas-themed:

The Camp Fire Girls' Larks and Pranks, Hildegard G. Frey
I discovered e-books back in the day of my PDA, reading in Microsoft Lit format and getting the books from BlackMask.com, now Munseys.com. This site contains books that are in the public domain, including those wonderful kids' series books originally published by Saalfield, Altemus, and other extinct publishers. These are even older than Nancy Drew vintage; some, like the Rover Boys, go back to the 19th century.

This particular series was written between 1914 and 1920 and centers on a group of Camp Fire girls and their "Guardian." Today Camp Fire is for both sexes; I don't think they even wear the cute little uniforms and beanies the Camp Fire Girls wore in the 1960s. Frey's prose is livelier than many of the didactic series of those day, and all her girls are memorable: Migwan (Elsie Gardiner) the writer of the group, Sahwah (Sarah Brewster) the champion swimmmer and prankster, Hinpoha (Dorothy Bradford) the plump redhead, and more. Incidentally, these are not what you think of as "girls": the youngest of them is fifteen, and by the end of the ten-book series even college-age Migwan, Hinpoha, and Sahwah still go to camp. Parents in those days hoped their daughters would remain innocent until they were ready to be married and go out in the world.

So although in this volume, about midway through the series, the girls make the acquaintance of a group of boys who call themselves "The Sandwich Club," there is no snogging, clandestine meetings, and raging hormones: we know the Captain (real name Cicero St. John) likes Hinpoha, but it's all very innocent. This is a pivotal book in the series as we meet at least one character who will figure in the rest of the series, Katherine Adams, a tall, awkward young woman of careless dress and Southern origins but friendly and talented, who is visiting the Girls' home town in order to attend high school. We are also introduced to the Sandwich Club; Veronica Lehar, an Austrian girl who has lost her family in the Great War and who is snobbish to the girls until she finds out what good friends they are; and also to a trick donkey the kids name Sandhelo ("Sandwich" and "Wohelo," the countersign of the Camp Fire Girls—WOrk, HEalth, LOve—melded together).

As always in these old books, subtle racism and ethnicism raise their heads. In this outing the girls try to help the poor folks in an area of town known for its Polish and Slavic citizens, but are thwarted in their efforts to help by the "superstitious" townsfolk. The young folk in these novels are so nice it's hard to see them today marred by this silly bigotry. Otherwise it's a fun narrative of how kids used to make their own fun rather than depending on electronic toys.

Favorite Books of 2010

2010-12-31T20:24:00.000-05:00

Trying to keep it down to a baker's dozen this year was hard:

Appetite for America: Fred Harvey Civilizing the West—One City at a Time, Stephen Fried (History of the civilizing influence in the American West from the POV of the Fred Harvey Houses—Amazon Vine offering)
The Mapping of Love and Death, Jacqueline Winspear (The newest Maisie Dobbs mystery, with major changes to Maisie's life—Borders purchase)
The Boneshaker, Kate Milford (Super "steampunk" young adult novel—Amazon Vine selection)
Hello, Everybody!: The Dawn of American Radio, Anthony Rudel (Before the Golden Age; a technology remarkably like the Internet—Amazon Marketplace purchase)
Victorian London: The Tale of a City 1840-1870, Liza Picard (Overview of the Victorian era from poor to wealthy, cellar to attic—Borders purchase)
American History Revised: 200 Startling Facts That Never made It Into the Textbooks, Seymour Morris Jr. (Book that is hard not to read aloud to others—Borders purchase)
Nick of Time, Ted Bell (Topping adventure novel about a Channel Islands boy and Nazi invaders, not to mention pirates—Borders purchase)
The Fourth Part of the World: The Race to the Ends of the Earth, and the Epic Story of the Map That Gave America Its Name, Toby Lester (A history of European exploration as told through maps—Borders bargain book purchase)
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, Jacqueline Kelly (A Victorian child learns about the natural world—Borders purchase)
An Expert in Murder, Nicola Upson (A 1930s set mystery written in spot-on 1930s English murder mystery fashion—Borders purchase)
Confessions of a Prairie Bitch, Alison Arngrim (The girl who made Nellie Oleson famous tells her story—library book)
At Home, Bill Bryson (The history of the home as told through its rooms—Amazon Vine offering)
The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter, Russell T. Davies and Benjamin Cook (The making of the new series of Dr. Who—Amazon purchase)

Honorable mentions:
Crazy Good: The True Story of Dan Patch, the Most Famous Horse in America, Charles Leerhsen (Lyrical language and the famous trotting horse—Borders purchase)
In Spite of Myself, Christopher Plummer (Plummer's wordy but fascinating memoir—Borders bargain table)
Postcards from Europe, Rick Steves (Memorable trips and Rick's story of his first travels—used bookstore purchase)

Five fiction novels, the rest nonfiction; three of the five are young adult books, the other two are mysteries, seven of the nonfiction are historical (one is actually a social history) and there are two biographies, a travel book, and a media book.

Plus I want to give a shout-out to Christopher Fowler's Bryant and May mystery series, starting with Full Dark House...humor and mystery well mixed!

A Curiosity

2010-12-06T18:30:00.003-05:00

I have found a...curiosity.

Classic live-action Disney fans will certainly remember 1948's So Dear to My Heart, the story of a country lad and his mischievous pet lamb, starring Bobby Driscoll and veterans Beulah Bondi as Granny and Burl Ives as Hiram. (This is the film where Ives sings one of his big hits, the Oscar nominated "Lavender Blue.") The source material for this has always been noted as the Sterling North book Midnight and Jeremiah.

Somewhere in my early teens (and I can date that by the price on the paperback book, which was 95 cents), I found a copy of the book version of So Dear to My Heart, with a copyright date of 1947. I figured when the book was reprinted, the name of the book was changed to that of the movie, and the name of the lamb from Midnight to Danny, just as the publishers of Rose Wilder Lane's Let the Hurricane Roar! changed its name to Young Pioneers after the television movie it was based on, and changed the names of the protagonists from "Charles and Caroline" to "David and Molly" to avoid conflicts with the Little House on the Prairie television series.

Well, I have come upon a copy of the original Midnight and Jeremiah in a used bookstore, copyright 1943. To my surprise, it is more of a children's book than what I though the "original" was, with pictures on every page by famed illustrator Kurt Wiese. The characters and the basic story are all familiar, but at the same time markedly different, and although I haven't read it yet, it looks like the story ends at Christmas.

It almost looks like North either rewrote the book for adults previous to the film's release, or based the rewritten book on the screenplay for the Disney film. It would be interesting to know the story behind the two volumes.

Books Finished Since November 1

2010-11-30T23:00:00.054-05:00

Good Old Dog: Expert Advice for Keeping Your Aging Dog Happy, Healthy, and Comfortable, ed. by Nicholas H. Dodman BVMS
Since our dog has passed her twelfth birthday, I thought this book would provide some good information on what we can expect in her old age, and I was not disappointed. As the title suggests, each aspect of your dog's aging process and how to cope with is covered: tooth care, feeding (did you know that some "senior" foods for your increasingly sedentary dog are actually more fattening, causing him/her to gain weight?), joint problems, exercise, illnesses due to aging (heart failure, incontinence, loss of appetite, etc.), cancer and other surgical problems, hearing and sight, and more. Also discussed is how to make more difficult decisions, like amputation and the possible inevitable euthanasia, as well as options if your budget does not cover an expensive procedure. The text is written in a simple, but not simplistic style, and the reader is encouraged to do his/her own research, with other books—and second opinions—recommended. An satisfactory overview.

Turn Coat, Jim Butcher
Warden Donald Morgan, who has never had much respect for "Chicago's only practicing wizard," Harry Dresden, now a Warden himself, abruptly shows up at Harry's doorstep, injured and needing protection from his fellow Wardens, who are hunting him down for murder. Harry's astonished as anyone, but formulates a plan to save him. He knows Morgan wouldn't murder someone...but who would? It must be an inside job.

In the meantime Harry senses something evil and utterly powerful shadowing him. Is it related to Morgan's crime?

I have to confess I've been reading Dresden since they began and after so many books I'm starting to forget who did what in which book and sometimes find following Butcher's now huge cast a bit daunting (so thanks to whomever did all those synopses on Wikipedia!). But this outing offers a taut murder mystery with fantasy and horror trappings, as always a page-turner. Once again Harry's world turns upside down at the end. If you are an urban fantasy fan, I would give Harry's adventures a try, but do start at the beginning (Storm Front)!

The Big Book of New England Curiosities, Susan Campbell & Bruce Gellerman
The one thing that puzzles me about this book (and there may be other state instances that I don't know about) is that the authors mention the Big Blue Bug ("Nibbles Woodaway"), but don't put it in the book because they say everyone knows about it. What was it gonna take, a page? I mean, how can you do a book of New England "curiosities" without Nibbles?

Anyway, this is just as the title says, a state-by-state collection of unusual, odd, or just plain strange places and things, from haunted properties to odd landmarks to peculiar attractions: a life-size chocolate moose in Maine, a statue of Samantha Stephens (where else, in Salem, MA), dinosaurs in Connecticut, Rudyard Kipling's American home (Vermont), and more. It's a liberally illustrated, brief, humorous, and a fun read.

The Sherlockian, Graham Moore
In 1893 Arthur Conan Doyle killed off Sherlock Holmes, determined never to write another Holmes story again. But in 1900, he brought him back in a "flashback novel," The Hound of the Baskervilles, and then resurrected him. Why bring Holmes back? Doyle was a consummate diarist and his journal from that year might tell the tale—but is missing.

In January of 2010, a guest at the annual meeting of the Baker Street Irregulars states he has found the missing diary and will reveal its contents. He's also extremely nervous and fears he's being followed. The newest member of the Irregulars, Harold White, a shy, slightly chubby, nearsighted man in his early twenties, can't believe his luck being admitted to the society just as this revelation will be made. Then the man is found murdered in his room, with Harold as one of the witnesses to the body's discovery, along with Sarah Lindsay, a journalist reporting on the Sherlockians. As Harold is drawn into investigating the crime, a parallel story is told in alternating chapters: of Arthur Conan Doyle's investigation into a true crime, with the help of his friend Abraham "Bram" Stoker. The two investigations keep pace with each other, leading both Harold and Arthur into territory they begin to wish they never had penetrated.

Even as you wonder how the two crimes 110 years apart may relate, Moore keeps both narratives going at a good clip. I found the Doyle mystery a bit more compelling than the White (Moore's Victorian London is quite vivid and often disturbing), although Harold, as much as he resembles a Sherlockian "Trekkie," comes across very well and gains confidence as the story progresses. I would recommend this story to any Sherlock Holmes fan, but admit it might not be of interest of anyone who is not a fan of the Great Detective.

All Clear, Connie Willis
This book and its first half, Blackout, are a veritable fountain of words, very Dickensian, and probably at least a quarter of them could have been cut. But this didn't keep me from turning page after page after page to follow the adventures of Polly Churchill, Merope Ward, Michael Davies, Mary Kent and her partner Paige Fairchild, Ernest and his partner Cess, the boarders at Mrs. Rickett's, Sir Geoffrey and his amateur thespians, Mr. Dunworthy, and Colin, not to mention the mischievous urchins Alf and Binnie, plus the others populating Willis' massive epic about 21st-century time travelers stranded in Blitz-era London.

As their hopes fade that their own "drops" will open to return them to 2060 Oxford, Polly, Merope, and Mike attempt to find fellow time-traveler Gerald Phipps, who has been assigned to Bletchley Park, without interfering with history, fearing, as more time passes, that not only is their time travel itself is the cause of the slippages that keep the drops from opening, but that they have changed history somehow, even perhaps causing the Nazis to claim victory. As Mike searches for Phipps, Polly's appearance in plays put on in the subway to raise morale leads her to a job as a chorus girl where she becomes wartime sweetheart "All Clear Adelaide" and Merope becomes more emotionally involved with the scamp Hodbin children. In the meantime, other time travelers in "future" World War II (1944 and 1945) are trying to avoid Hitler's V2 rockets and participating in the elaborate cover-up that diverted the Axis eyes from the Normandy landings.

Willis' vision of wartime England is so vivid that she may be slightly forgiven for the barrage (pun intended) of description, characters, and incidents that comprise All Clear. I thoroughly enjoyed it all, but be warned there are more than half-a-dozen time travel streams to contend with, and you won't understand a word of what's going on without having read the first half of the story, Blackout, first.

The Leopard's Prey, Suzanne Arruda
Photographer/travel writer Jade del Cameron, back with her friends Madeleine and Nevelle Thompson in British East Africa, comes much too close to a leopard as she helps men collect animals for zoos. Nor can she relax once she is done, because when she returns with the Thompsons to their coffee plantation, the dead body of a storekeeper with a bad reputation is found in their just-delivered coffee dryer. Inspector Finch appears to want to pin the crime on one of Jade's friends, especially her off-again, on-again love interest Sam Featherstone, since he had a violent argument with the man days earlier.

Jade, of course, can't help being involved in the mystery, especially when Sam is accused. Trouble is, there is no lack of suspects: the victim had an unsavory past, and not many people liked him. Were his business partners involved? Or one of his customers? And did a baby the Thompsons almost adopt figure into the crime? Jade faces danger from every angle in this outing, including in the air, a challenge she meets, as always, with bravery and aplomb. Note: pay attention to Sam's aerial report; it contains a vital clue.

The Water Room, Christopher Fowler
The Peculiar Crimes Unit is just about to re-open (after the explosion that occurred in Fowler's first PCU novel, Full Dark House) when Benjamin Singh, an old friend of senior detective Arthur Bryant's, asks if he will look into his sister's death. He found her sitting in a chair in her basement, dressed, dry, but with her mouth full of river water. Bryant, his longtime partner John May, and the rest of the team start asking questions in her tiny neighborhood, where more odd deaths occur.

In the meantime, a young woman has moved into Ruth Singh's old home as London suffers through endless deluges of rain following an unusually hot summer. Why does she keep hearing water when she goes down in her basement, and why do wet spots keep appearing on the walls even though they are dry to the touch? Who is the street person who keeps peering into her window?

You will likely learn more than you might have wanted to know about the watercourses of London's rivers and of its sewage system in the course of this book; however, the mixture of mystery, neighborhood characters, and the eccentric Peculiar Crimes Unit (and its most peculiar member, Arthur Bryant) make the information not only painless, but downright absorbing. Bryant is in fine form in this second PCU outing, and the combination of puzzle and humor is delightful.

Especially Spaniels, Gladys Taber
This is a short book Taber wrote in the 1940s about raising cocker spaniels. It's interesting reading, even today, due to the things that have changed, like advising giving aspirin to dogs, and the use of products that don't exist anymore. What hasn't changed is her practical outlook on raising dogs, the dangers of strangers spreading illness to dogs, the stories of her own animals, and the lovely pictures of her spaniels taken by her longtime friend Jill.

Seventy-Seven Clocks, Christopher Fowler
In this third installment of the Bryant and May mysteries, Arthur Bryant's interview for his memoirs take the reader on an expedition back to 1973, as the Peculiar Crimes Unit is moving into new digs and England is moving into the Common Market. Then the scion of an influential businessman walks into a museum and ruins a priceless painting; later he dies under mysterious and bizarre circumstances. An attorney staying at the Savoy hotel dies from the bite of a snake not native to England. As more improbably crimes pile up, Bryant and May attempt to unravel the mysteries as the newspapers jeer the police, and a young woman who discovered one of the bodies and who suffers from frightening nightmares is drawn into the case by her own design.

The mystery in this one is quite complex, to the point where it ends up being a bit improbable. Still, I love Fowler's descriptive language and the partnership and characters of Bryant and May.

The Attenbury Emeralds, Jill Paton Walsh
In this new mystery featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and his novelist wife Harriet Vane, Jill Paton Walsh is on her own; she has neither an unfinished manuscript as in Thrones, Dominations nor the framework of letters written by Dorothy Sayers as in A Presumption of Death. Instead she harks back to what was briefly referenced as Lord Peter's first case of detection, the matter of the Attenbury emeralds: after Peter tells Harriet the story of the mystery surrounding the jewels, the newest Lord Attenbury shows up on their doorstep, where they discover the emeralds are still causing conundrums—and deaths.

I think I enjoyed this story more than the previous two, although as always it is evident Walsh is not Sayers. Her Sayers "voice" is better in this outing, but perhaps she feels incapable of writing in the sort of detail that Sayers did, precise descriptions of people and settings, and sharp commentary on the situations surrounding her characters (or, perhaps, her publishers think that modern audiences are not interested in reading such details any longer, a sad commentary if that is true). Every once in a while, what I feel is a too-modern sounding word or phrase intrudes, and the first half of the book, where Peter and Bunter are telling the tale of the emeralds instead of Walsh showing what happened, was awkward to me. Perhaps Walsh didn't feel comfortable writing this prequel in flashback form knowing she could not write it with Sayers' style; more likely she wanted Harriet included in that part of the narrative.

This did not keep me from reading on to discover what the purpose of all the intrigue around the emeralds served, or to find out how Peter and Harriet meet a second challenge later in the book. I would recommend with the reservation that you keep in mind that this is Walsh and not Sayers, and do not expect the level of detail of the latter.

Death at Wentwater Court, Carola Dunn
The Honorable Daisy Dalrymple's family has fallen upon hard times. Her father has died, leaving the family title in other hands, and leaving her in thin financial straits. Her fiancee, along with her brother, perished in the Great War. But Daisy is a resourceful, emancipated girl of the newly minted "Roaring '20s." She gets a position writing for the noted magazine "Town and Country" and her first big story will be written about Lord Wentworth's ancestral home. But all is not well at Wentworth Court: elder son James is resentful and suspicious of his new, young stepmother; his sister Marjorie is shamelessly chasing a handsome guest of the family; and the aformentioned stepmother is wan and secretive.

The morning after Daisy's arrival, the handsome guest, Lord Stephen Astwick, is found floating in the skating pond. At first everyone thinks it is an accident, until one of Daisy's photographs for her article reveals otherwise.

This is a bright, light English cozy mystery. The characters, including Daisy and the Scotland Yard inspector, Alec Fletcher, are lightly sketched, with not much depth to them. However, the story has a nice 1920s flavor to it, with the contrast between aristocracy and commoners, traditional characters and the "flappers" and "fast gentlemen" of the time, with a nice ear for 1920s dialog and slang. Daisy is an engaging heroine, neither precocious nor dense. In short, don't expect an introspective, complicated whodunit, but it's all enjoyable nonetheless.

Also check out my blog Holiday Harbour for November 2010, for my reviews of the Christmas and other holiday books I have read.

Books Finished Since October 1

2010-10-31T23:11:00.001-04:00

Fannie's Last Supper, Christopher Kimball
I hate to cook, but there's nothing better that I like than to read Christopher Kimball's column in each issue of Cooks Illustrated. His articles about Vermont put me in mind of Gladys Taber.

In this book, Kimball has brought his desire to cook a 12-course dinner from the original Fannie Farmer cookbook alive. We follow Kimball and his assistants as they plan the meal and attempt—as closely as possible—to cook it in period style. Of course (if you're familiar with Cooks you know they always change recipes to improve flavor) Kimball and the Cooks folks play with the recipes and actually reject some of them for not being all that tasty. This has apparently disturbed some of the folks who read this book, and it is a bit ironic that Kimball wrote a book about cooking alà Farmer and then did not go precisely by her recipes, but instead used better-tasting ones from other chefs. But since I have no interest in the actual cooking part and just read this for the historical perspective on cooking, I quite enjoyed the entire narrative. The revelations about cooking over the wood stove were especially "eye-opening." I knew they made the kitchen hot, but I never imagined things melted!

Warning: the chapter about the calves' brains may be a bit much for the modern person who gets everything packaged in plastic.

The Sisters Grimm; Once Upon a Crime, Michael Buckley
Sabrina, Daphne, Grandma Relda, Mr. Canis, and police chief Hampton are on a mission: to return an injured Puck to a colony of Everafters in New York City where his family—the imposing Oberon and Titania of "Midsummer's Night's Dream" fame—can hopefully cure him. Instead the porcine police chief finds love and danger when he falls for a "fairy godfather's" girl (yes, it's exactly what you think it is), and Sabrina finds herself face-to-face with Puck's jealous girlfriend.

Once again Buckley has well-mixed classic fairy tales for a rollicking, but sometimes creepy, adventure in a really-out-of-this-world place, NYC at Christmastime. One thing bothered me: Granny really came down hard on Sabrina for using magic in the previous book. This time Daphne wields the wand and Granny doesn't seem to mind. Bothered me, as Sabrina, even if she is pushy, does seem a bit put-upon.

Nellie Oleson Meets Laura Ingalls, Heather Williams
Since the "pre-Little House" adventures of Laura's grandmother Charlotte and great-grandmother Martha have come to an end, apparently since Harper-Collins wanted to dumb them down and the writers refused, these are two newer books about characters related to Laura. This one tells Nellie's side of the story of when the Ingalls family arrived in Walnut Grove and the events of "Town Party, Country Party" and the grasshopper invasion.

The story actually introduces Nellie, Willie and her family some time earlier; Laura doesn't enter the picture until halfway through the book, although Charles Ingalls is shown in the first chapter. I guess we are supposed to feel sympathy for Nellie when we hear about her distant father and social-climbing mother, and moments do exist when Nellie's bratty shell melts and she feels bad for people. But frankly, she's obnoxious from the start, corralling Willie into playing a mean prank on the schoolteacher, and you're glad when the plan backfires. So I'm a bit puzzled to what purpose the book was written. Williams does a good job keeping the narrative "Little House"-like, but it's still hard to warm up to Nellie.

The Power of Babel, John McWhorter
Okay, I'm at a loss what to say about this one, although I enjoyed it. But then I devour good linguistics books like one eats potato chips. One of McWhorter's main points is about dialects versus the "standard" in a particular language: the standard isn't really the "most correct" version of the language, as one might think; it's just the version of the language that was chosen to become the standard, so that, really, "Cockney" is no less credible than "BBC English," "Parisian" isn't the be-all, end-all of French as opposed to what they speak in other areas of France, and a southern accent in the United States is no less "educated" than the flat midwestern tones once preferred of newscasters—they're all just versions of the same language which evolved in different areas. He uses pop culture and familiar media figures to explain these differences, which makes the text lively and less dry than some academic tomes about language.

Re-read: Mr. Revere and I, Robert Lawson
Since we were going to Boston on vacation and I had long dreamed of visiting Revere's home, I just had to re-read this fun and lively view of Revolutionary Boston as seen through the eyes of Revere's horse. Sherry, or Scheherazade, as she is properly known, is originally a British cavalry horse, brought to Boston with the soldiers to help quell the rebellion. By a series of misfortunes, she comes into the possession of Paul Revere and sees the opening volleys of the American Revolution.

This is painless, occasionally humorous—some of the Founding Fathers, like Sam Adams and John Hancock, are shown in a not always flattering light—history for kids, which shows them that the folks behind the Revolution were not demigods, but ordinary folks with an extraordinary idea: a new republic not based on a monarchy. And, through Sherry, they understand what it is like to be free. Great story, if not always precisely in line with real historical events (the horse Revere rode on his famous "ride," for instance, was someone else's, and it was taken from him).

Full Dark House, Christopher Fowler
This is all I need, another series. But what a fun series! In present-day London, 80-year-old Arthur Bryant is killed while working late at the Metropolitan Police's Peculiar Crimes office. His grieving partner, 76-year-old John May, attempts to solve the crime, which appears to have something to do with Arthur's opening of an old case, the first one which Bryant and May solved together, during the height of the Blitz, when a killer stalked the backstage area of the Palace Theatre.

Bryant and May are an odd couple; I thought of a 1940s version of Holmes and Watson, with Bryant as the eccentric and May as the more conventional (and more attractive to women). Fowler brings the WWII atmosphere of the Blitz to life—not just hardy Londoners stiffening their upper lips, but the fear and the uncertainty and the spooky feeling of streets under blackout, not to mention the claustrophobic feeling of the theatre. Yet the narration is also offbeat and frequently humorous, especially when presenting Bryant's oddball friends. I really enjoyed the entire milieu.

Re-read: Ocean-Born Mary, Lois Lenski
Most people are more familiar with Lenski's regional series, like Strawberry Girl, but I have always also loved her historical stories, like A-Going to the Westward, and this book, which I first read in junior high school. When we went on vacation this year, we stopped at the setting of the novel, Strawbery Banke (the original name of Portsmouth, NH), where I was delighted to see the real places mentioned, like Puddle Dock.

This is not the true story of Ocean-Born Mary, a child whose presence on a ship caused a pirate captain to spare the lives of all if she was named after his little sister, but a fictional tale that Lenski has spun about the child. She arrives in Strawbery Banke to help an ailing cousin and experiences all sorts of adventures with the merchants and seafaring inhabitants of the port town, befriending an ailing child, a shipmaster's daughter, a woodcarver, a restless boy assigned to herd cows, and a merchant's daughter. And she also meets the man who spared her parents' lives, the pirate Philip Babb, who will once again cause problems in her life.

Today's children might find this book dull, but I loved every bit of historical detail in this book as a kid and still love re-reading it.

The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter, Russell T. Davies and Benjamin Cook
In February 2007, Benjamin Cook shot Doctor Who's Russell T. Davies an e-mail: would he be interested in providing some input to Cook about how a Who episode is written? As Russell answered, "You had me at hello."

The "article" evolved into The Writer's Tale, and then The Final Chapter, a 700-page collection of the e-mails (and occasional texts) shot back and forth between Cook and Davies between the fateful day in 2007 through David Tennant's final appearance as the Doctor. In between, in a great cascade of words, one actually does find out how more than one episode is conceived, filmed, and finished, and a whole lot more. Before Catherine Tate signed up for her season, for example, Davies was working through the creation of a new companion for the Doctor, a young woman named Penny, whose father was a stargazer. How Penny changed and then morphed into Donna Noble, and how the stargazer became her grandfather, played by the delightful Bernard Cribbins, is completely told here.

In the meantime, there are behind-the-scenes glimpses, Davies' growing pressures as a writer for both Who and Torchwood, premieres, filming successes and problems (that damaged bus in "Planet of the Dead," for instance, was supposed to be whole; it was damaged in transport), script flaps, actor changes, the conception of the final story, and perhaps even a partridge in a pear tree. All in great fun—I found it totally absorbing, down to the terrible puns.

Death on the Lizard, Robin Paige
Sir Charles Sheridan and his American wife Kathryn Ardleigh (also known as Beryl Bardwell, well-known author of thrillers) are back for one last case, set in the Cornish countryside where brilliant but mercurial Guglielmo Marconi has done the impossible: sent messages across the Atlantic by wireless. But the natives of "the Lizard" hate the noise and hurry the radio towers bring to their quiet corner of England, and when two men die on the site, foul play is suspected.

In the meantime Kate befriends Lady Loveday, a widow whose young daughter recently drowned, and who wishes to try to contact her through spiritualism. But when Kate makes a query or two, it looks as if little Harriet's drowning may have something to do with the conflict over the wireless station—and with spies of that selfsame station. And can Marconi's new inamorata be involved as well?

An excellent portrait of the times, where locals feel traditions are slipping away too fast to "newfangled" technology (times, it seems, never change), with multiple mystery threads. The "bad guys" are pretty easy to spot, though; if you are fond of impossible conundrums, read for the Edwardian atmosphere instead.

Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide to House, M.D., Barbara Barnett
Two books on House, MD were released this fall, the "authorized" guide and this, based on Barnett's popular blog "The End of the Thought Process." Like her blog, it's a great read, especially her analysis of each character (the emphasis on our "hero," of course, but also on Wilson and Cuddy and the original group of "ducklings." The latter part of the book is an episode guide, with such notations as the diagnosis—it's never lupus, except once it was—and the epiphany that led to it, "House is a Jerk" moments (of course too numerous to name), bromance minutes, continuity notes, nods at pop culture, and more, with inserts directed at a closer look at certain key episodes, like the award-winning "Three Stories." Sure to please a House fan—well, at least it pleased this House fan. :-)

Turkish Delight & Treasure Hunts, Jane Brocket
Not being able to find Brocket's original foray into this area, Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer, for less than $40, I purchased this follow-up, a delightful little volume that brings together recipes and instructions for making foods mentioned in classic children's books, like "sugar on snow" from the little house books and raspberry cordial from Anne of Green Gables, as well as instructions for making or buying a skipping rope like Mary Lennox's or kitemaking. If you are fond of classic children's novels, you will read this with a big grin on your face, as it's just as cozy and welcoming as it sounds.

Colonial New England on 5 Shillings A Day, Bill Scheller
From the time I saw Shakespearean London on 5 Groats a Day, I thought the idea of exploring history via a "tourist's guidebook" to be fun and clever. Although I bought the Shakespeare book first, because of our recent vacation, I read this one first and was not disappointed. The author offers an accurate portrayal of colonial times (travel, food, customs, etc.) at about 1760 (often with notes of what happened in the future). The most fun are the sly little asides to events that have not yet happened, as in noting that Sam Adams looked as if they had no future except as a brewer, or that "base ball" was much too ruffianly a sport for New Englanders and it should be consigned further west to "other Yankees." If all the other "Five" travel books (Ancient Greece and Europe, the Wild West, et al.) are as humorous and informative as this volume, I will have much fun "traveling" through history.

Books Finished Since September 1

2010-09-30T23:04:00.026-04:00

Death at Blenheim Palace, Robin Paige
In what Paige states is the penultimate book in the series, the emphasis is on those wealthy American young women who were dazzled—or coerced by greedy parents—into marrying English peers, only to find themselves looked down upon by the servants and overwhelmed by running huge manor houses, and discovering that they were only married to shore up dwindling finances. Consuelo Vanderbilt Marlborough has found this out the hard way. Now she fears her husband will make a fool of himself with his mistress. In the meantime, visitors Sir Charles Sheridan and his American wife, the former Kate Ardleigh, get wind of a plot to burgle Blenheim Palace during a visit of King Edward and Queen Alexandra—and it will be an "inside job." Winston Churchill as a young man also re-appears. Another "cozy" murder mystery revolving around a little-known piece of history, with a rather bitter taste at the end. For historical perspective on this novel, try the book To Marry An English Lord or a biography of Consuelo Vanderbilt.

Changing the World, edited by Mercedes Lackey
A new collection of short stories set in Lackey's Valdemaran universe, and they are pretty much all "keepers." Lackey has a strong entry (especially against her "Scooby-Doo" parody in the last volume) about a woman who resents Heralds because of a family incident. I even enjoyed the very tongue-in-cheek "Interview With a Companion," which I understand some fans did not like. There's a nice mixture of stories as well, not all involving Heralds—witness a mystery involving city guards and the tale of a trader's daughter who wishes to rescue an abused servant girl in a female-repressive society. The humorous "Nothing Better to Do" about a Herald entrusted with the transport of a mischievous toddler was also a favorite.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to The World of Narnia, James S. Bell Jr. and Cheryl Dunlop
I can't say there was anything in this volume that I didn't know, but if you are just getting into C.S. Lewis' Narnia books, or wish to probe the deeper meanings of the stories, you may find this volume helpful.

The Way I See It, Melissa Anderson
How odd that books about sweet Mary Ingalls and nasty Nellie Oleson came out nearly at the same time. Anderson's book is...workmanlike to the point of being dull. While I don't think it was quite as bad as some of the reviewers on Amazon.com paint it—I did pick up a few interesting tidbits about the series and Melissa's life off the set—and I certainly don't mind that she "dished" little "dirt" about her co-stars, the simple sentences, the reiterations of whole pages of plot synopses from Little House on the Prairie (Little House fans will remember all the nuances of the plot; why repeat the details?), and the occasional wandering into a script format made the narrative choppy. I'd take this book out of the library rather than buying it; YMMV.

Confessions of a Prairie Bitch, Alison Arngrim
On the other hand, this book is all that it was publicized to be. Arngrim's writing is fast, funny—and sometimes terrifying, occasionally profane, and always absorbing. Arngrim came from a theatrical family: her father was Liberace's manager and her mother the voice of animated characters like Gumby and Sweet Polly Purebred, her brother was the cute little kid with the dog on Land of the Giants. But beneath the surface was dysfunction; her father was gay in an era when it wasn't spoken of and her parents focused so little on their children that Arngrim's "cute" brother abused her from an early age and was a hard drug user, all without their knowledge. In the midst of this chaos Arngrim worked off her fears and frustrations (and the pain of her elaborate wig and costume) via bratty Nellie Oleson, and found friendship with the girl who played her "enemy" Laura Ingalls, Melissa Gilbert. Hilarious and heartbreaking by turns.

Main Street 9: Coming Apart, Ann M. Martin
As we return to Camden Falls, Massachusetts for a new year, Nikki Sherman is dreading the reappearance of her father. His divorce from her mother is being finalized and he's showing up to collect a last few things. But when he does reappear, Nikki is surprised to see he is well-dressed, soft-spoken and—most importantly—sober. In the meantime, Flora is letting her love for her new baby cousin absorb her days, younger sister Ruby has done something forbidden and is trying to be good to make up for it, and the youngest of all the friends, Olivia, is emotionally coming to terms with the fact that her pal Joshua considers himself a boyfriend rather than a friend who's a boy.

As always, Martin mixes up the lives of her child characters with her adult characters: there's a subplot with Mr. Pennington, and also the fears of Mrs. Sherman. I was hoping she would go against type with Nikki's father, but I was disappointed in that. As seems to be custom in the "Main Street" books lately, it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. Nevertheless, another good visit with the Northrups, Walter, and Sherman families.

Grace Under Pressure, Julie Hyzy
Grace Wheaton's grandmother loved Marshfield Manor, the place she had been a servant so many years ago, and brought up Grace to love the old place, too. Now in her twenties, Grace has become assistant curator at Marshfield, which has become a hotel and events venue as well as museum and home for the last of the Marshfields, Bennett. After a loud man attempts to break up one of Marshfield's weekly Teas, the mansion's security director is shot and killed, and Grace discovers that someone has been sending threatening blackmail notes to the estate owner. When Grace must step in the deceased man's shoes, she is faced with a resentful co-worker, irate customers, and the specter of the shooting: was the killer actually trying to murder Bennett?

Although there was a coincidence with some characters that seemed a bit contrived, I enjoyed both the mystery and the characters, especially Grace and her roommates (although I flinched at Hyzy giving a gay man the clichè name of Bruce!).

At Home, Bill Bryson
Think of this of "a short history of nearly everything having to do with the home." Bryson takes us from attic to cellar in the old vicarage he calls home in England to tell the story of private life. After examining the pivotal year of 1851 and the land surrounding his home, Bryson starts with the basic structure of all human shelters, the one-room living space that became the medieval hall, and then visits each individual room to chronicle a different aspect of society: the bathroom to examine sanitation; the kitchen to talk about food (of course); the scullery to discuss servants, etc. The home becomes a springboard of discussion to architecture, social customs, furnishings, plants...even sexuality, and all in Bryson's engaging fashion.

The true test of this book: it kept me absorbed in a 3 1/2 hour ticket line in over 70 degree heat. Now that's interesting writing!

An Impartial Witness, Charles Todd
Bess Crawford, nurse at the front in World War I, accompanies the wounded home to England where they will be hospitalized. One patient, a badly burned pilot, keeps a photograph of his wife with him always. To her surprise, Bess sees the woman at the railway station—with another man...then later learns from a newspaper article that the woman has been murdered. She can't help reporting what she saw to Scotland Yard...or becoming involved herself in the investigation, especially after an innocent man's life is at stake.

I didn't like this installment of the Bess Crawford mysteries as well as the last, although we did get to see much more of her family. Despite the fact she's nursing at the front, she seems to come and go from her posting at ease, and one can't worry about her much as she always appears to have a faithful bodyguard by her side. Those things, however, didn't keep me from turning the page to see who was involved and how other characters in the story would react.

Night of the Living Trekkies, Kevin D. Anderson and Sam Stall
Quirk Books, who have kept us in supernatural horror characters like zombies, werewolves and vampires with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Mansfield Park and Mummies, tackles a media classic with this humor-edged survival tale about Jim Pike (hmmm...Jim Kirk...Christopher Pike...get it?), a veteran of two tours of duty of Afghanistan and former Star Trek fan who just wants to spend the rest of his life blending in with the woodwork, until the weekend GulfCon invades the hotel where he works as a bellboy. But it's not the invasion of the Trekkies that will bring Jim out of his torpor, but something more serious...something that looks like an invasion of...zombies? With his younger sister, a convention attendee, to protect, and others to protect, Jim must find a way out for them, and fast.

This isn't great literature nor an insightful psychological portrait, but it is a well-paced, very often humorous, survival adventure. SF fans especially will enjoy the battle of wits against the mindless invaders (and no, they're not actually refugees from reality television...).

Turn and Jump, Howard Mansfield
This book made me...melancholy.

The subtitle is "How Time and Place Fell Apart" and is a series of essays connected by a time theme, basically how people used to operate on a schedule set by the sun and by what chores needed to be done, but how now we are harried by the clock. Some of them are only thinly connected to the theme, but I found all interesting, especially the story of a family-run grocery store that was operated for 103 years, and each year of its operation record books were kept of the day-to-day events. I almost cried when I finished the essay and discovered the place no longer exists, since it sounded like such a wonderful place to visit. The melancholy effect came to a head with the final essay, which is about the Native Americans just reclaiming their heritage in public, when they were told to keep it hidden for so many years.

The Gentle Art of Domesticity, Jane Brocket
No sooner did I wish to find Ms. Brocket's Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer, a book about the goodies found in old children's books, then I came upon this volume on the remainder pile at Barnes & Noble. Since it's about baking, knitting, sewing, and quilting, with the occasional side trip to gardening, you might figure it was the last thing I would be reading, but I rather enjoyed it all, turning the pages that made the book into a cozy home, with colorful patterned illustrations on every page of baking or fabric projects or just family photos and domestic-themed paintings. It was like reading Jennifer Harris' "Allsorts" blog in print. Brocket's themes include "Inspiration," "Color," "Texture," "Patterns," and more.

Blackout, Connie Willis
Willis returns to her future Oxford universe setting of The Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog, where history students time travel to pivotal but not critical settings in history to observe people and events happen as part of their studies. As the book opens, Merope Ward (under the alias Eileen O'Malley, a maid at a manor house) is already studying World War 2 evacuee British children, Polly Churchill is now Polly Sebastian on her way to pose as a shopgirl in Blitz London to study the effects of bombing on the residents, and Michael Davies, as Mike Davis, is supposed to go to Pearl Harbor. But it becomes evident that there is something "up," as schedules are switched and amended up until the time each of them leave. Michael ends up near Dover, frantically trying to get to the beach to observe only the returnees from Dunkirk. Instead he takes part in the action and worries he has change history, while Polly must cope with "slippage" that has made her days late for her assignment and Merope with her job taken away.

Once one can get over the fact that most of these history students appear fixated on their time periods and don't know a lot about anything else but what they are studying, and, as in the past books, the "net" they use for transport is prone to trouble, this is an absorbing glimpse into what would happen if modern people had to cope with the realities of the Second World War, and perhaps the prospect of not returning home. As what happens to Kivrin in Doomsday Book, Polly begins to see that the population she is studying aren't just subjects, but real people who she begins to care about. Mike and Eileen also form attachments and struggle with what their impact will be on history.

Be forewarned that this book ends on a cliffhanger and is continued in the sequel All Clear...which I have in my hot little hands thanks to Amazon Vine. :-)

Books Finished Since August 1

2010-08-31T21:51:00.000-04:00

An Expert in Murder, Nicola Upson
If you are a fan of classic 1930s mystery fiction on the line of Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, and Josephine Tey, you will love the narrative. This is a complex plot with echoes of Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series, as repercussions of events in the first World War still haunt an England slowly approaching the brink of the second. Josephine Tey (the pen name of Elizabeth Mackintosh) befriends a young woman on a train; a few minutes after Tey leaves the compartment the woman is brutally murdered in a manner suggesting the killer was leaving a message. Thus follows a complex mystery featuring the cast of Tey's hit play Richard of Bordeaux, including a thinly disguised Sir John Gielgud. In the midst of a cast of absorbing characters, the setting and Upson's pitch-perfect 1930s language also star.

Candy Freak, Steve Almond
I plucked this book off the bargain table since it looked like a tounge-in-cheek look at small candy companies by a self-professed "candy freak." This book does contain some interesting looks at companies like the New England Candy Company (Necco) and a few others, but contains wayyyy too much personal info about the author. (Do we really need to know when he masturbates?) In addition, several irritating typos abound (agar agar is mentioned about a dozen times and misspelled at least half of those), and suddenly near the end of the book Almond's narrative degenerates into a nosedive of a political rant. Eh, what? Pity, because the candy factory parts were good reading.

Shooting for the Moon, Bob Berman
With all the books about the US manned spacecraft program in the house, I suppose I could have passed on this short, simple overview of America's race for the moon. However, it was only a couple of dollars...

I notice a tendency in recent books about the space program to tag the Gemini program with "second movie in a trilogy" syndrome and say that it would be a footnote in history except for some exciting events within the program. As a person who sat and watched the Gemini programs, I'm not sure why modern writers consider Gemini an "also ran." The missions were all used to test heady stuff: space walks, docking, long-term spaceflight—as covered on television, they were never dull. So...enough already.

Check this book out if you want a summary of the U.S. space program with the occasional interesting bit of trivia. Otherwise there are much better books on the space program out there, like Chaikin's A Man on the Moon.

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, Kelly O'Connor McNees
This is a pleasant but occasionally irritating novel of one summer in Alcott's life when the family was living in Walpole, New Hampshire, in a home let free of charge to them by a relative. As always, due to Bronson Alcott's refusal to work at a traditional job (although he expected his wife and daughters to toil away at the backbreaking housework necessary in those days), the family was scraping to stay alive. Louisa is longing to return to Boston where she can live frugally and write her stories, eschewing the romances her elder sister Anna and friends long for, until Joseph Singer comes into her life. As the Alcott women try to escape the strictures put onto them by society, Louisa at first rebels against, then is attracted to Singer. In an effort to show Louisa's prickly temper, McNees occasionally makes her more annoying than independent, and pretty much nothing happens in the book until the last few chapters. Still, it's a painless way to find out something about the Alcott family dynamics.

Mean Streets, Jim Butcher/Simon R. Green/Kat Richardson/Thomas E. Sniegoski
Frankly, I bought this book for the Harry Dresden story, but enjoyed the other three urban fantasy tales as well. Beware, the story about the private detective who goes searching for a woman's husband is rather intense and grim.

Death in Hyde Park, Robin Paige
A new adventure of Charles and Kate Sheridan, reluctant peer/amateur sleuth and his American-born wife, this time focusing more on the age of social upheaval in England that they find themselves involved in, and of the anarchists, Russian and otherwise, who lived in the East End. More courtroom drama that normal in this cozy series, but entertaining if nothing else the quick-witted barrister's work. As the story opens, a young radical is killed by his own bomb; arrested in the subsequent raid on a socialist newspaper is a union organizer who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Charles is asked to help clear the young man. As always, Paige mixes real history in with her story, as a young Jack London, in England to write an expose of the slums, encounters the feisty female editor of the raided newspaper. Along the way you painlessly learn something of the years of British social upheaval.

Spud, John van de Ruit
It's 1990 in a South Africa freeing itself slowly from apartheid. Nelson Mandela is about to be released from prison. And thirteen-year-old John Milton is off to boarding school for the first time. Nicknamed "Spud" (uh, because his "haven't dropped yet"), John ends up rooming with seven of the craziest boarding school buddies one could ever meet. As the year progresses, Spud embarks on escapades with his bunkmates, feels guilty for neglecting his girlfriend for an "older woman" (she's fifteen), copes during the holidays with his level-headed Mum and a father who thinks Mandela's release will wreak anarchy upon society (not to mention a slightly dotty grandmother whom he calls "the Wombat"), tries out for the lead in the school musical, befriends a few professors, and along the way learns some lessons about life.

This is definitely not a "G" rated book—with all those boys life is nothing if not raunchy—but it's also hysterically funny...and sometimes extraordinarily touching. Sort of a male version of Diary of a Chav and a less depressing Secret Diary of Adrian Mole (whom Spud has a few choice words about!).

Up Tunket Road, Philip Ackerman-Leist
This is the simple but remarkable story of Philip and Erin Ackerman-Leist, who buy property in rural Vermont and live as real homesteaders. Their life is not easy; for some time they struggle against keeping warm and sheltered until their cabin is livable, and they must make choices about how to best use the land to support themselves. This is as much an examination of the homesteading lifestyle and what it is perceived to be versus what it is (or doesn't need to be) as it is a chronicle of the couple's adventure in living. Leist brings his down-to-earth Vermont neighbors vividly to life—the dowser, the builder, the organic gardener, the cattleman, and others. As always, there are humorous happenings in their unconventional life—like the time Leist is trapped in the outhouse by one of their oxen.

If you've ever wondered what it was like to "go off the grid," this is an honest retelling of the pleasures and the perils of doing so. Plus you get the wonderful pen-and-ink drawings of Erin Ackerman-Leist!

The Sisters Grimm: The Problem Child, Michael Buckley
The sisters Grimm, Sabrina and Daphne, have no sooner started to cope with the destruction of their elementary school and the loss of "Mr. Canis," their grandmother's unconventional chauffeur (hint: he's really the big bad wolf!) than their uncle Jack shows up. Under Granny Relda's disapproving eye, Jack encourages Sabrina to dabble in the magic that her grandmother endeavors to keep her away from. But it's hard for Sabrina as the world of the Everafters is threatened by a new menace: Little Red Riding Hood. Driven mad by the death of her granny, Little Red is even invading Sabrina's dreams.

There's a bit more meat in this edition of Buckley's delightful "mash up" of fairy-tale characters as Uncle Jack tempts Sabrina into something she may become addicted to: magic! And with Daphne's new martial arts talents, can a rousing finale not be far behind?

A Year at the Races, Jane Smiley
Another bargain-table find. It was...okay. I've noticed Smiley's name on several different best-selling books, and as this was about the training of race horses, I thought it might be interesting. The horse parts—about their individual, sometimes quirky personalities, how they are trained, and the backstage dealings at the race track—are fascinating, but the bits about the pet psychic are just...odd. The horse doesn't like its name so Smiley has to change it?

Tales from a Dog Catcher, Lisa Duffy-Korpics
If you're a dog lover, you'll probably enjoy this collection of tales by Duffy-Korpics, who supported herself before and during college by being an animal-control officer in a small New York town. It has the flavor of a Chicken Soup for the Soul volume (in fact, several of the stories here have been in Chicken Soup volumes). You'll read about people willing to give up almost anything for their pets, and callous human beings not worthy of the name human; quirky owners (sadly, some quirky enough to endanger their pets) and those enriched by the lives of their animals—even a sociopathic dog. This is a good book for bedside reading, perhaps one story a night—but be warned in the case of some of them: tissues should be available.

Mr. Monk in Trouble, Lee Goldberg
Well, isn't he always? :-) This time Monk and Natalie find themselves in Trouble, an almost forgotten gold-rush town—well, almost forgotten except for that tantalizing gold robbery in 1962—at the request of Captain Stottelmeyer; an old friend of his has been murdered while working at the town museum. Monk is appalled by the rustic town, but not appalled enough to not become intrigued in both the murder of the Captain's friend and the 1962 gold robbery. And along the way, Natalie starts reading a gold-rush era diary that features a young widow who works for a startlingly familiar, squeakily-clean assayer: a fellow named Artemis Monk.

Some bits of this book are fun, especially the improbable diary entries. But, oh, goodness, the running gag is back...times two. Please...please, not again... Not to mention that the murderer was so obvious that even I twigged to the person immediately.

The Mapmakers, John Noble Wilford
Can anyone actually look at a map, especially a map of "places far," perhaps those mentioned in story and song, and read the exotic names without a sense of longing for adventure? Wilford begins at the beginning, with the idea of the map drawn into the sand by some ancient ancestor, and wanders the earth on the trails of the mapmakers: the ancients including the Egyptians and Greeks, the medieval cartographers who brought us the T-O maps, the men of the Age of Discovery, the mapmakers who seek to draw the most accurate maps, the search for preciseness in latitude and longitude, surveying, ocean mapping, and finally, to the methods of today, using spaceflight, computers, and GPS to make a better map. Wholly absorbing.

The 55-Question Book Meme

2010-08-29T15:44:00.026-04:00

1. Favorite childhood book?

Oh, goodness, how could I choose one from such riches? Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Eight Cousins, Lassie Come-Home, Black Beauty, Beautiful Joe, The Green Poodles, Friday's Tunnel, National Velvet, Johnny Tremain, Understood Betsy, The Good Master and The Singing Tree, The Swiss Family Robinson, anything Marguerite Henry wrote...and more.

2. What are you reading right now?

I'm just finishing The Mapmakers by John Noble Wilford. I'm also reading Grandmere by David Roosevelt, The Writer's Tale by Russell T. Davis and Benjamin Cook, The Power of Babel by John McWhorter, The Complete Idiot's Guide to the World of Narnia, and the fourth "Sisters Grimm" book.

3. What books do you have on request at the library?

Memoirs of a Prairie Bitch by Alison Arngrim and The Way I See It by Melissa Anderson.

4. Bad book habit?

There are bad habits about books? :-) Okay, sometimes I'm so interested in my book I eat while I have a meal. This is not only bad manners, but sometimes I get food spots on the book. I also riffle the page edges, which I'm sure would make some folks squirm.

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?

None at the moment.

6. Do you have an e-reader?

Not a stand-alone one. I have a reader called "Aldiko" on my Droid, and download old children's series books from Munseys.com. I'm presently excited because I found at least three more of Hildegarde Frey's "Camp Fire Books" online. I love these old series books! They are terribly racist sometimes, to the point of being painful, but they're an honest portrayal of the time, and some of them are still pretty exciting. I've sampled "The High School Boys," "The West Point Series," "The Annapolis Series," "The Young Engineers" (all with the same set of characters), "The Pony Rider Boys," "Grace Harlowe," "Ruth Fielding," "Betty Gordon," etc. I also have the Kindle app and the Nook app, but really don't intend to buy any books. I like the feel of pages and paper.

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?

LOL. I think I answered that in question 2.

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?

I don't believe my habits have changed because of my blog, but I'm buying entirely too many books that I read about on other book blogs!

9. Least favorite book you read this year?

Skipping the "joke" books I bought, like The Lost Blogs, I think I was most disappointed in The Revolutionary Paul Revere. The narration was just too "hip" and "flip." Honorable mention to Candy Freak, which started out being a homage to small candy companies and turned into a political rant/whine.

10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?

Just one? Some wonderful young adult/children's stuff: Nick of Time, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, The Boneshaker, and also the wonderful The Fourth Part of The World, American History Revised, Picard's Victorian London, Hello, Everybody: The Dawn of American Radio, The Mapping of Love and Death, and An Expert in Murder.

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?

Since I read anything that interests me, there's not much out of my comfort zone. I don't read much horror, though, except for a couple of early Stephen King books, or true crime, and am not likely to.

12. What is your reading comfort zone?

History, the occasional sociological text, children and young adult books that don't involve vampires and werewolves (especially vintage books), cozy mysteries, the occasional police procedural and fantasy, geography, geology, homespun things (like Gladys Taber), the occasional television-based novel, linguistics, the occasional biography, New England travel, OTR, media, humor, and trivia.

13. Can you read on the bus?

I can, but I'd rather look at the scenery. Haven't been on a bus route for years.

14. Favorite place to read?

Stretched out on the sofa, with instrumental Christmas music playing (no matter what time of year).

15. What is your policy on book lending?

Close friends are fine.

16. Do you ever dog-ear books?

Used to as a kid. I do riffle the pages when I read.

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?

Goodness, no!

18. Not even with text books?

Textbooks I've highlighted. (And pertinent parts in HTML books.)

19. What is your favorite language to read in?

English. Learned a little Italian in school, but never learned to read comfortably in it.

20. What makes you love a book?

Memorable characters, rich vocabulary, interesting setting, information imparted in an interesting style without being too cutesy or too ponderous.

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?

:-) Memorable characters, rich vocabulary, interesting setting, information imparted in an interesting style without being too cutesy or too ponderous.

22. Favorite genre?

Er...wow. Mystery, I guess, followed by history.

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)

I read what I like.

24. Favorite biography?

No contest! Life is a Banquet by Rosalind Russell and Chris Chase. Or are autobiographies not allowed?

25. Have you ever read a self-help book?

Yes, mostly about being organized. To my mother's despair, I never was very organized. At least I am trying to keep up with the decluttering.

26. Favorite cookbook?

Anything that's readable rather than instructing me to cook. I hate to cook. I have to say The Little House Cookbook, because it gives so much additional information about how the Ingalls and other pioneers ate and survived.

27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or nonfiction)?

I don't think I've read any inspirational books yet this year. The closest I've come is the Molly Wizenberg book.

28. Favorite reading snack?

No, no, no. Try not to do that. Just a glass of skim milk. Okay, cherries if they're in season.

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.

Not ruined my experience, but certainly didn't live up to it. Like Angels and Demons, which reminded me of the early 20th century boys' adventure novels I was downloading from Munseys.com, sexed up and "violenced" up. Another overhyped book was The Godfather.

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?

About half of the time. I find I really don't like New York Times bestsellers most of the time. They're either pretentious or about families with emotional problems that I don't want to read about.

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?

It depends on if I feel the writer has made some effort with the book or not. Some books just don't work. You regret giving bad reviews to those because the book had good prospects but just had deficiencies in plot or character. Other times a writer appears to have just dashed a book off to make a quick buck. One doesn't mind criticizing them as much.

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?

Italian, so I could read The Decameron in the original Italian.

33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?

I don't think I've ever tackled an intimidating book.

34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?

That would probably be something Russian, like War and Peace.

35. Favorite poet?

Robert Frost—although many of my favorite poems are not by Frost, like my absolute favorite, Alistair Reid's "Curiosity."

36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?)

Hm. I usually go in for one and come out with three or four.

Sometimes five. :-)

37. How often have you returned a book to the library unread?

Once, I think. I didn't like the book very much and didn't finish it. I liked it so little, apparently, that I've forgotten what it was, too. :-)

38. Favorite fictional character?

Oh, goodness, you can't do that to me. If I had to pick one, probably Mary Stewart's Merlin. But how can I leave off February Callendar, Rebecca Randall, Sir Adam Sinclair, Cilla Lapham, Hermione Granger, Lord Peter Wimsey, Huckleberry Finn, "Gran" Preston, Kate and Jansci Nagy, Harry Dresden, Jo March, Rudolf Rassendyll, Anne Shirley, all of Hildegard Frey's Camp Fire Girls (especially Migwan), Dorothy Canfield's "Betsy"...and so many more. I'd invite them all to dinner if I could!

39. Favorite fictional villain?

Favorite as in "he was so nasty that I really hated his guts"? Probably David Jenkins in Memoirs of an Invisible Man. But that's probably because Sam Neill did him so well in the film. If we're going for "charming but evil," the first thought that comes to me is Rupert of Hentzau.

[Later: Oh, oh—Pap Finn!]

40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?

Actually, I usually take a bound issue of St. Nicholas magazine with me because the different stories will keep me busy for a week.

41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.

When I was in the hospital in 1990, probably three or four days. I just couldn't concentrate after the anesthesia.

42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.

Oh, that's easy. It's the book I threw against the wall in college: Joyce Carol Oates' Wonderland.

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?

My husband reading aloud to me from what he's reading. But I do it back!

44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?

The Andromeda Strain (not the awful remake). Close second place: Airport. Very honorable mention, made for television: Centennial.

45. Most disappointing film adaptation?

Both made for television: A Wrinkle in Time or A Ring of Endless Light.

46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?

I think I spend more on Amazon.com, but it's probably about $75.00.

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?

Often, but not frequently. I will skim if I am doubtful about purchasing the book.

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?

Boredom, tops. Also excessive violence or just something really gross.

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?

Yes, they are pretty much all organized, but all are not alphabetized. Still haven't gotten to the humor books.

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?

I keep them if I like them and think I would read them again. If I don't like them, they go directly into the donate box, and when the box is full, it goes to the library.

51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?

Twilight and anything else that has to do with vampires, werewolves, and zombies. I'm just not interested. I don't get the vampire thing at all. Vampires are dead. They are cold. Imagine cuddling with a dead cold person. ::shudder::

52. Name a book that made you angry.

It was a Cleveland Amory book about animal cruelty. I ended up wanting to be really cruel to some humans.

53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?

I didn't know if I would like it or not, but Gone With the Wind. I had to order a book from a book club selection booklet and it was the only one that looked of any interest at all. It was my mom's favorite movie and I thought that if I didn't like it, she might. Well, I was enthralled for four solid days. I did nothing but read GWTW and sleep, except for the two days I was in school (I brought it with me and read it whenever I could, including in the back of math class—surely more interesting than nasty old algebra) and at church.

54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?

My best friend recommended Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy, but I was bored silly. I've never been much of a hard science fiction fan, though.

55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?

Bound issues of St. Nicholas magazine, thanks. Kate Seredy's The Open Gate. Stewart's Merlin trilogy. Gladys Taber. Happy now.

Books Finished Since July 1

2010-07-31T23:58:00.078-04:00

The Rebellion of Jane Clarke, Sally Gunning
While this isn't "chick lit" specifically, I don't see this book appealing much to men. I suppose one could even call this a female version of Johnny Tremain. Jane Clarke is a young lady of marriageable age living on Cape Cod; her father, a contentious miller, has been accused of an unspeakable crime against a neighbor he has been feuding with. When Jane doubts her father, and also refuses the marriage proposal of a promising young man, her father ships her off to the home of an unpleasant, sickly aunt in a Boston being consumed by revolutionary fevour. Ironically, Jane's nursemaid duties gradually set her free from conventional thought, as she discovers how ardent a patriot her brother has become, befriends both British and revolutionary figures including bookseller Henry Knox, and grows in both personal and self knowledge. It's a well-written voyage of self-discovery with a nice period feel.

The Lost Blogs: From Jesus to Jim Morrison, Paul Davidson
What if [insert historical figure here] had had his/her own blog? This is actually a good bathroom book, if you buy it off the bargain shelf since the quality of the humorous blog entries varies; some are actually chuckle-worthy and others just downright dull. Some of the cleverest ones are actually done as graphics.

It's That Time Again!: The New Stories of Old-Time Radio, edited by Ben Ohmart
Finding this collection was a total surprise; I had no idea anyone was writing stories based on old radio series (what was even more surprising is that three other volumes exist!). The only caveat to what the writers could tackle was that the stories must be original to radio (so no Sherlock Holmes, Superman, Orphan Annie), etc. To me, some of the stories worked, but a few didn't, mainly the ones where the OTR setting was brought up to date, like the Captain Midnight tale. The "Our Miss Brooks" story was the funniest of the lot, capturing Connie Brooks' narrative style, and I also really enjoyed the "Sergeant Preston" story and the "Frontier Gentleman" piece also matched the kind of story the series did, although I guessed what was going on immediately. Some good fantasy pieces, too, especially in the "Dimension X" story. If you're an OTR fan, definitely a must-have.

A Homemade Life, Molly Wizenberg
There seems to be a trend these days for books that are combination life-lessons and experiences/recipe collections, like Confections of a Closet Master Baker. This one, by blogger Molly Wizenberg of "Orangette," is a by turns amusing and heartbreaking, with interstices of intriguing recipes. As any friend of mine knows, I'm no friend to the stove, the oven, or the cutting board, but Wizenburg's adventures with food along with stories of her larger-than-life father Burg, her sole sojourn to Paris and the boy who left her behind, and her courtship with her husband Brandon make a stew of memories and mouthfuls so delicious that even I can't resist. One portion of the book sent me into tears, however: Wizenburg's chronicle of her father's final illness was heart-wrenching and brought me back to the death of my mother. Find a comfy corner, have a cup of some fragrant drink and a specialty item from a good bakery (or, better yet, make something homemade), and enjoy.

Priceless, Robert K. Wittman
This was an Amazon Vine choice that looked interesting, and indeed it was. Bob Wittman wanted to be an FBI agent from the time he was a small child. Initially turned down by the Bureau, Bob became a businessman, a husband, a father—and then had the opportunity to join the FBI again. Once an agent, he became intrigued with the fight to recover stolen works of art, and the book chronicles his undercover efforts to recover not only stolen paintings from the world's greatest artists and Rodin sculptures, but illegally sold Native American artifacts and even a rare Norman Rockwell piece. Wittman meets all sorts of creepy gangster types and almost has his cover blown several times (sadly, once by someone who was supposed to be on his side). I enjoyed reading this, but was dismayed to find that the United States spends so little time and energy on recovering these precious treasures compared to other countries, and that the FBI would screw up the chance to recover the priceless art stolen from the Gardner museum in Boston just because some idiot supervisor had to stroke his ego by micromanaging the situation. I guess some executives have to be *ssh*les no matter what kind of important business they are in; Congress doesn't have a monopoly on these idiots.

Heat Wave, Richard Castle
Wow, that Castle guy can write a heck of a sex scene! :-) Seriously, if you watch the Castle television series, all this will be familiar to you: award-winning magazine writer Jameson Rook [rook...castle...get it?], son of a famous stage actress, partners with tough, gorgeous homicide detective Nikki Heat, who has two police partners (one Irish, one Hispanic), an African-American boss, and an ally in the sassy coroner. (Alexis Castle doesn't seem to have a counterpart.) The book gets much steamier than the series, so if you've been longing for Castle/Beckett action, this may help your cravings. The story about the death of a wealthy businessman who was not what he seemed tries to be suitably complicated, but I guessed the perp halfway through, and most of the fun is noting the Castle conventions in book form. Oh, the "good stuff" is on pages 103-106, if you want to peek. :-)

Amazing But True Bird Tales, Allen Zullo and Mara Bovsun
I found this for three dollars on Hamilton Books site; it's a delightful small volume of true stories about birds, from bird thieves (stealing golf balls) to bird heroes (awaking owners to a fire) to odd things birds do (becoming fixated on humans or other animals, trying to incubate stones, imitating technological sounds), and more. From hummingbirds to emus, there's something interesting—but mostly funny—in this volume for bird lovers.

Common Birds of Atlanta, Jim Wilson and Anselm Atkins
JUst what it says; text about the bird on the even pages and photos of same on the facing pages, going in size from the smallest (hummingbird) to largest (crane). Perfect for bird spotters.

Murder Most Medieval, edited by Martin H. Greenberg and John Helfers
I find anthologies often on spotty ground, mediocre tales mixed with better ones (although sometimes you get a total dud). This was one of the better mystery short story collections I have picked up recently. My favorites in this volume were Doug Allyn's Tallifer story, in which the minstrel who agrees to escort a blind girl has a very different adventure than he imagines, Ellis Peters' "origin story" of how Cadfael left military service and went into the monastery, and an unusual story of Robin Hood and Maid Marian, but I enjoyed all the tales, even the Sister Fidelma story, which I must confess, I found slightly dull. Fans of medieval mysteries will probably enjoy this book.

Making Time: Lillian Moller Gilbreth—A Life Beyond Cheaper by the Dozen, Jane Lancaster
If bringing up a dozen boisterous children and being a "working mother" at the same time seemed like it was fun when you read Cheaper by the Dozen, this is the flip side to the hijinks. Lillie Moller (she changed her name to Lillian upon graduating from college because she thought it sounded more mature) was the daughter of a well-to-do family who could have married into "money" and been pampered for the rest of her life. Instead the bright, intelligent girl, who attended college and won a degree, then went on for her doctorate in an era when women were supposed to be maternal or ornamental, married self-taught engineer Frank Bunker Gilbreth, who willingly accepted his wife as an intellectual partner. Together, until his death in 1924, and then afterwards, Lillie Gilbreth made inroads in the field of motion study and psychology in the workplace. This biography reveals many personal things that weren't brought out in Cheaper and its sequel, Belles on Their Toes (which were, after all, not really biographies but humorous memoirs). If you were ever curious about the Gilbreths beyond the process charts, taking a bath in the least amount of time, and having tonsils removed en masse, this is an in-depth, well-paced narrative.

A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson
After reading his two books about the English language, his Tales from a Small Island and I'm a Stranger Here Myself, not to mention the delightful Short History of Nearly Everything, I thought the next Bryson to investigate should be his volume about his plan to walk the Appalachian Trail. I started it several months ago, then put it down, really turned off by the buddy Bryson picked to be his walking companion, an overweight junk-foodie named Katz. However, when I return to it, Katz didn't seem all that bad; in fact, he was right in place among the often odd hikers Bryson meets on his quest between the earnest nature aficionados and hiking fans. I ultimately enjoyed the volume as a whole, but often was irritated at Bryson's humor; however, descriptions of breathtaking woodland settings, trail companions, and odd places along the route won out over these occasional lapses. Bryson fans will enjoy.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, Jacqueline Kelly
In 1899, Calpurnia Virginia Tate, "Callie Vee" to her family, is sandwiched between three older brothers and three younger, the despair of her mother who wishes her to grow up ladylike, and, like her brothers, is in fear of her grandfather, who lives with them, but who has given up on the family business to hole up in an old shed, his "laboratory." Then one day, to satisfy curiosity, Calpurnia braves her grandfather's expected wrath.

What a surprise then that the old man opens a new world to Calpurnia, that of nature, and the two of them form a close bond. In the meantime, she lives through the day-to-day routine of a Victorian child: piano lessons, problems with her brothers, worrying about losing the love of her beloved older brother, and, worst of all, lessons in "domestic science" from her mother and the family cook, who expect her to fit the women's mold of the time.

This is a wonderful book: Calpurnia's narration is bright and sparkling, her brothers torment her but love her, the slice-of-life sequences remind one of Penrod, frequently with a bit of humor. The descriptions of the weather, the countryside, the town, Grandfather's "laboratory," etc. were vivid, bringing the era and setting to life. I was also impressed that the author did not make the mistake of so many modern books, that the "good" white people are somehow enlightened to the plight of minorities and treat them well where others do not. Sadly, this was the subtle prejudice that was so hard to overcome in those days, that minorities were only fit for manual work and that "they want to be that way." It is a great irony that while Calpurnia and her grandfather are learning so much about the natural world, they have not yet learned the most basic of lessons, that skin color is not a barrier to intelligence or ambition. Other little ironies abound, like the fact that Mrs. Tate deplores the use of "drink," yet in stressful times takes Lydia Pinkham's "vegetable compound," which is one-fifth alcohol.

Every once in a while, a word or phrase breaks the carefully crafted 19th century world for a second, but this is a minor problem only. Highly recommended.

In Spite of Myself, Christopher Plummer
What a fascinating book! More a stream of memories than an actual autobiography, Plummer starts with his unconventional upbringing in Canada, continues with his breakthrough into acting, and then just keeps going, Energizer Bunny style, in an endless string of sometimes humorous, sometimes sad, very often eye-popping adventures. These aren't the tales of his upright life: if the narrative is being straight with the reader, Plummer seemed to spend half of his life inebriated, or at least drinking a lot; he admits that his first two marriages were made on whims and he was an absentee husband and father, and that he was often boastful, crass, rude, profane, or otherwise not the world's best guy.

On the other hand, his stories of acting on stage and in the movies were mesmerizing, especially tales of noted actors like Sir Laurence Olivier, Jason Robards, Raymond Massey, Eva Le Gallienne, James Mason, Mildred Natwick, Rex Harrison, Rachel Roberts, Kate Reid, Katherine Cornell; writers like Lillian Hellman and Neil Simon; producers, directors, "Broadway angels," locations including a miserable, filthy set and lodgings in the Soviet Union, and so many more. Since Hollywood tales are "a dime a dozen," much dirt being dished on the popular magazines of my childhood like "Photoplay," "Screen Stories," "TV-Radio Mirror," etc. which my mother bought and I surreptitiously read, I found Plummer's tale of stage life, foibles and fumbles the most absorbing. He even tells a good dog story about his family pets.

This rambling narrative probably could have used a good editing, but for myself, I had a great time wandering amongst Plummer's memories. YMMV.

Books Finished Since June 1

2010-06-30T23:31:00.093-04:00

Alphabet Juice, Roy Blount Jr.
Some kids play with their food. Roy Blount plays with words. And if you're a logophile, as I am, you'll probably be delighted with this volume where Blount occasionally talks about word origins, but more often talks about how they sound, how they've evolved, how they are misinterpreted or misused, and anything else that takes his fancy about spelling, grammar, and phonics. Some entries are brief, others natter on for a page or two. In the process he makes his words skip, slip, snake and slide, and even turns in the occasional shaggy dog story. My only quibble: the intrusion of political humor. I know this is part of Blount's ouvre, but it badly dates the book, and frankly, I see linguistics books as a refuge from the eternal bickering over politics. YMMV.

The Sound of Music Companion, Laurence Maslon
This is a lovely coffee-table book crammed to the brim with photos which follows the story of the musical story, from the real-life of the Von Trapps (some wonderful family photos I'd never seen) through the writing of the musical play and the filming of the movie, down to modern day and a reality show search for a new Maria for a remounted London production. The photos do not overwhelm the text: there is much about the differences between the play and the film, the writing of the songs and the choosing of the original cast,and the difficulties of filming some of the movie's most memorable scenes. Found this on Hamilton Books' site for a great price, and so glad I did!

About Time: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who, Expanded Second Edition (1970-1974, Seasons 7 to 11), Tat Wood, with additional material by Lawrence Miles
Well, there's a mouthful! This is the third in the six-volume "About Time" series published by Mad Norwegian Press chronicling Doctor Who from 1963 through 1989, covering Jon Pertwee's tenure as the Doctor. If you want exhaustive synopses, commentary on the curiosities and inconsistencies in each episode, filming and soundtrack notes, and trivia behind each episode, not to mention numerous inserts on everything from UNIT to the political/social atmosphere of Britain at the time to essays that try to square the original series with the 2005 revival, you've found it here...in fact, if Doctor Who is your cup of tea (or time-flow analogue gadget made with tea leaves), these books certainly will be.

Mr. Monk and the Dirty Cop, Lee Goldberg
What's a private consultant to do when the money runs out? That's the problem facing Adrian Monk and his trusty (underpaid) assistant Natalie Teeger when police department funds run out and they can't be called in on crimes any longer. Not to mention that Captain Stottlemeyer has been made to look like a fool at a conference which reveals that most of the San Francisco police's sterling solved-crime rating actually belongs to Monk! With no money coming in, Monk takes a job at a private firm called Intertect (for those of you who remember 60s detective dramas, this name is a delicious in-joke, and a related joke occurs in the plotline as well), where Monk and Natalie are "wined and dined" with a fancy office, a company car, and a personal assistant. But Monk being Monk, he just can't help prying into police cases, even if it's by calling in anonymous tips. Many intertwined plots for your mystery pleasure. Unfortunately the Diaper Genie subplot get tiresome, and Randy Disher is at his most annoying. But the positives outweigh the negatives.

Twilight at the World of Tomorrow: Genius, Madness, Murder, and the 1939 World's Fair on the Brink of War, James Mauro
As a schoolgirl I attended the 1964 New York World's Fair, which was held on the same site as the famous 1939 Fair which featured the first appearance of television, Billy Rose's "Aquacade," and the sphere/cone symbol of the "World of Tomorrow" theme of the fair, the Perisphere and the Trylon (and played a big role in the first season finale of Remember WENN to boot!), so I've always been fascinated in this other fair and gladly swooped up this offering, originally entitled Einstein at the World's Fair. It's an engaging narrative, mixing the preparations and execution of the Fair's events and its optimistic futuristic view against the growing violence and militarism in Europe, along with the arrival of Albert Einstein to the United States and his growing fears about the atomic bomb, and the day-to-day lives of the policemen who guarded the Fair against increasing bomb threats. The Fair narrative is fascinating, and the police subplot covers a little-known event at that Fair, the explosion of a home-made bomb, but the Einstein subplot is oddly tacked on and it's no wonder the title was changed. By far the most fascinating thing about this book, besides the wonderful descriptions of the different pavilions, like the famous "Futurama," is the portrait of the Fair's (and New York's) official "greeter," Grover Whelan, a middle-class New Yorker who worked himself into high society and a fixture in the city. I found this book very enjoyable, and even the Einstein parts are interesting, but in parts the narrative isn't very cohesive. Still, enjoy your visit to the "World of Tomorrow," but I'd advise it on library or remainder table terms.

Haunt Me Still, Jennifer Lee Carrell
In Carrell's sequel to Interred With Their Bones, Shakespearean aficionado Kate Stanley has been asked to direct a small production of Macbeth, starring Lady Nairn, a direct descendant of Lady Macbeth, in her family home near Dunsinnan Hill (the same Dunsinane as in Macbeth). Kate wishes to stay away from the trouble which plagued her during her last adventure, but as soon as plans begin for the production of the Bard's most unlucky play, odd things begin to happen, events that include a rune-engraved blade, a mirror, a cauldron, and the restless granddaughter of Lady Nairn, whom Kate sees murdered...or was it only an illusion? I have to admit that I raced through this book to see what happened, a conglomeration that would do Dan Brown proud, but once the book was finished I don't remember all that much about the characters. So it's a fun read if you like mysteries with an occult touch.

101 Golden Rules of Birding, Marcus Schneck
This is a little book I found in B&N's bargain section, and, while I'm not a "birder" as such, this little volume of short articles has many pieces just about birds themselves, feeding birds, things to look for, creating bird habitats, migration, and other tidbits for bird lovers.

Death at Glamis Castle, Robin Paige
In a sequel (of sorts) to Death in Whitechapel, reluctant House of Lords member Sir Charles Sheridan and his wife Kathryn (the former Kate Ardleigh, American, also known as Beryl Bardwell, writer of mystery stories) are happily excavating archaeological items at Hadrian's Wall when they are summoned north by King Edward VII. They arrive at Glamis Castle in Scotland to discover that a mysterious guest living there—a person thought dead for years—has vanished, and a housemaid has been murdered. Did the guest, who has always been characterized as unbalanced, kill the maid in order to escape? And if he didn't escape on his own, who helped him? Another Paige novel which takes a speculation from Victorian history and turns it into an atmospheric mystery in which early Edwardian mores mix with the threat of upcoming war, and gives a kinder fate to a much-maligned historical figure. The villainous character is pretty obvious, however; nevertheless, if you like cozies set at the turn of the last century, this will probably please you.

How The Scots Invented the Modern World, Arthur Herman
If you have anything modern and inventive, or are reading something philosophically modern, pull it out and paint it plaid, because the Scots were probably behind it. Okay, that's being flip, but after reading this book it does seem that way. Herman has done an exhaustive study of the innovations the Scots made in philosophy, architecture, modern business practices, urban planning, inventions, modern politics (the Scottish movement behind the American Revolution, for instance, based upon the beliefs of Patrick Henry, John Witherspoon, John Paul Jones, etc., all Scots), although they were a poor country under the thumb of the English. The opening chapters of the book, dealing with the philosophers, educators, and theocrats are occasional hard slogging, but once into the Scottish Nationalism movement and the rebirth of Scottish heritage engendered by Sir Walter Scott, the pace picks up a bit. Herman seems to go out of his way to link everything to the Scots, however—I was a bit astonished to read that the terms "redneck" and "cracker" are actually Scottish terms!—and by the time you finish the book you will probably feel as though it's all a bit much. Still, much to like and much of interest in a country that had its share of innovators.

Nick of Time, Ted Bell
Wow, what a book! Remember those rousing old children's adventure stories, where ingenious, sturdy boys and their intrepid sisters or companions explored, sometimes ran afoul of bad guys, sailed, spied, and amazed the adults with their cleverness? Bell takes us back in time, literature-wise as well as chronologically, to 1939, where Nick McIver, age 12, spends his days in his sailboat enjoying the sea surrounding Greybeard, one of England's Channel islands, where he lives at the lighthouse with his father, mother, and little sister Katie. When his father's job is threatened due to a secret activity, and when Nick and Katie find a mysterious sea chest while picnicking, their lives will never be the same. A marvelous, nonstop adventure story for all ages, involving German submarines, 19th century pirates, mysterious time-travel devices, Lord Nelson, kidnapped children, British spies—and one of the pluckiest little girls ever, as young Katie has her own role to play while Nick travels back in time to prevent disaster. If you remember how much fun adventure books used to be, this is the story for you!

Ariel, Steven R. Boyett
I don't ordinarily like dystopian novels, but this one grabbed me when it was first published in the 1980s and I still found it enjoyable second time around (republished before its sequel, Elegy Beach, came out). I did note bemusedly that Our Hero is without the titular unicorn on the cover of the reprint, unicorns having gone in the intervening years from being creatures from a cool medieval bestiary to cute sparkly pinky-purply things adored by little girls everywhere. Make no mistake, Ariel the unicorn is capable of violence in protection of her human companion, Pete Garey, an ordinary guy who managed to survive after "the Change" silenced all machinery and electronics on Earth, and brought magical creatures, including fearsome griffins and manticores, to life. But others are envious of Pete's aristocratic familiar, and once the Necromancer wishes to possess Ariel's horn, neither of them will know peace until he—or they—are defeated. Boyett wisely didn't fiddle with the story (except for adding an extra chapter), first published when he was only 21; it isn't a complex tale, but, still, a nice solid fantasy.

The Fourth Part of the World: The Race to the Ends of the Earth, and the Epic Story of the Map That Gave America Its Name, Toby Lester
Sometimes the things you find in the remainder bin are the absolute best, and this volume proves it. This is an absolutely fabulous book about maps and the exploration of "the New World," beginning with the rediscovery, in 1901, of the 1507 Waldseemuller map which was the first to designate the unexpected lands that the westward-sailing Europeans kept encountering as "America." From that starting point Lester introduces us to the cartographers, philosophers, explorers, and mariners—and the printers, booksellers, religious figures, and invaders, not to mention the famous and those who have vanished into time who all contributed to making that map, a map that progressed from the old vision of the world of three parts (Europe, Africa, Asia) to one with four. If you think a narrative about dusty old maps might be dull, think again: the personalities here are lively, the narrative illuminating, and in a painless way you will learn all sorts of historical goodies. Quite a long narrative about Amerigo Vespucci, about whom history books mention briefly by name and no more.

Books Finished Since May 1

2010-05-31T23:44:00.000-04:00

Victorian London: The Tale of a City 1840-1870, Liza Picard
I couldn't resist the description or peeps inside this book, and it paid me back for its purchase fourfold. This is a wonderful summary of the lives of Victorians of the lower and middle classes. Picard divides the book into chapters about each aspect of the Victorian life, and, most tellingly, she begins with a chapter about smell, as the manured- and horse-urined streets and the stink of the polluted Thames along with the scents of rarely-washed bodies would have been the thing that struck a modern person most about the era. Then she visits the home, the businesses, the hospitals, the taverns, the social gathering places, and tells of the people, from the mudlarks who risked their lives gathering valuables from the river to be able to eat to the homeowners and the professionals. While certainly not an exhaustive study, it is easy to read without being simplistic, helping you to envision the era. Highly recommended!

Since Yesterday, Frederick Lewis Allen
This was a library read, a sequel to Allen's classic about the 1920s, Only Yesterday. Many books written at this time were stodgy and stiff, but Allen writes in a looser style close to the way a modern book might be written, asking you to envision the world of the 1930s. I found this book a little bit less appealing than the 1920s book only because, having read much about the Depression, I knew most of the material. To me the book shines when he talks about the personalities and other events of the day, such as the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. However, if you haven't done much reading about the Depression era, Allen's observations, written immediately after the events, are a fascinating "I was there" text.

A River in the Sky, Elizabeth Peters
Since her original protagonists, the redoubtable Amelia Peabody Emerson and her husband, renown Egyptologist Radcliffe Emerson, are now in their seventies and the younger generation, Walter "Ramses" Emerson and his wife Nefret are parents, Elizabeth Peters is now going back in time to fill in some of the "missing adventures" of the Emerson family. As our story opens, it is 1910, and since Radcliffe Emerson has been banned from Egypt after a contretemps with the Minister of Antiquities, the family is at home in Kent while Ramses works on a dig in Palestine. Then a vague but prophetic stranger arrives at their home.

Like the last few books about the family, the action has shifted to the younger generation, which was inevitable. However, since we know the future of the characters, any suspense which involves the main characters is therefore nonexistent. The different setting (Palestine rather than Egypt) may also put off fans of the Egyptian settings. In addition, Nefret doesn't get much to do in this go-round except worry. A nice additional family chronicle/adventure, but not one of the best.

American History Revised: 200 Startling Facts That Never made It Into the Textbooks, Seymour Morris Jr.
Books like this, which present oddities and hidden facts of history, are compulsive with me; this volume did not disappoint (although I can't claim that I wasn't familiar with all of the "startling facts"). It is divided into ten sections, including forgotten facts, things that almost didn't (or did) happen, presidential trivia, tidbits about sports figures and actors, common folk who were thrust into the limelight, pioneers, philanthropists, financiers, wars and inventions, discoveries and explorers. This is the perfect bedtime book, as in you can read one or two sections at the time. The one problem with this book?: you'll find yourself reading choice bits aloud to anyone who will listen.

Time Out for Happiness, Frank B. Gilbreth Jr.
While almost everyone knows the story of Cheaper by the Dozen, the chronicle of efficiency experts Frank Bunker and Lillian Moller Gilbreth raising their brood of twelve children, and fans may be familiar with the sequel, Belles on Their Toes, this is a less well-known volume written by Frank Jr. concentrating on his parents' early life and their work. I hadn't read it in years and noticed that it was available at the library, since copies are expensive. This is a splendid companion to the other books, beginning with the courtship of Frank and Lillie, then going back to their early lives and continuing with their partnership, and, after Frank's death, Lillie's individual triumphs in the industry despite the opposition to women in the field. A great read about a unique couple, told with Gilbreth's usual humor.

The Revolutionary Paul Revere, Joel J. Miller
Miller writes a folksy account of the life of Paul Revere, still known mainly for his infamous ride (many of the details which are true "poetic license") against the backdrop of the colonial period and the Revolutionary War, so the reader learns not only about the life of Revere, but about the era he lived in. The benchmark in Paul Revere biographies (quoted in this book several times) is Esther Forbes' masterwork, Paul Revere and the World He Lived In, but it is indeed a scholarly work; casual readers and young adults doing research for school may find this volume more approachable. However, Miller's use of modern terms, used to make Revere appear more "human" and less history demigod, was so excessive it began to annoy me, which was a pity since the narrative moved so well.

Garden Secrets for Attracting Birds, Rachael Lanicci
Not that we need to attract any more; our feeders are doing booming business. :-) But this is a lovely book filled with the most popular "backyard birds," and what plants, seeds, and "furnishings" you can add to your yard to attract each one. The bird photos are just stunning, especially those of the adults feeding the babies, and the babies themselves.

Wild Horse Annie and the Last of the Mustangs, David Cruise and Alison Griffiths
If you grew up, like me, loving each horse book written by Marguerite Henry, you'll remember "Annie" Bronn Johnston, the woman who became appalled at the fate of the mustangs of Nevada and fought to keep them from being herded up and sold for slaughter. "Wild Horse Annie's" real name was Velma, a woman whose body was cruelly wracked by polio at a young age, leaving her face misshapen and her body with a host of medical problems. But it didn't stop Velma and her husband Charlie from trying to save the horses, from daring raids on corrals to facing even more frightening varmints: politicians and the Bureau of Land Management. This is Velma's story, more fascinating, adult, and straightforward than Henry's (her friendship, and, sadly, falling out, with Marguerite Henry is included in the narrative). Highly recommended for fans who grew up with Henry's story of Velma and horse/nature lovers.

Inventory, by the writers of the A.V. Club
From the bargain rack, an entertaining book of lists, although there are too many references to rock bands for my liking. How can you not like a book with a list called "6 Keanu Reeves Movies Somehow Not Ruined by Keanu Reeves"?

Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue, John McWhorter
What made the English language what it is? The usual histories of English cite the invasions of the Angles and the Saxons (from where we get "good old" Anglo-Saxon words), then the Vikings (remnants which can be found in Yorkshire town names and words with "sk"), and finally Norman French. Yet English contains structures not used in any other Germanic-based language, nor in French. Where did this structural style come from? McWhorter's answer: Welsh and Cornish, and perhaps even a smattering of Phoenician. McWhorter definitely believes that the old Celtic word structure inspired some of the unique usage of English, and spends the remainder of the book trying to prove it by example. If you're not really into linguistics, you'll be bored with this book. I found it moderately interesting, but then I'm odd like that. :-)

How the States Got Their Shapes, Mark Stein
I looked at this one off and on, but did not buy it until the History Channel special based on the book aired. Title tells all: how were the boundary lines of each of the states decided upon? Fascinating bits including why Mississippi and Alabama have those "tags" (for access to the Gulf; it was previously part of Florida), why Nebraska has a corner cut from it, and why it, Kansas and the Dakotas are of the same height, why Michigan got the peninsula, and more historical goodies. Heck, I never realized Fall River was once considered to be part of Rhode Island; we gave it back to Massachusetts in exchange for East Providence. Um...not really a fair trade. :-) (J/K! I used to work in East Providence.)

True North: A Memoir, Elliott Merrick
This is an extraordinary book. In 1929, Merrick quit his rat-race advertising job and moved to the wilds of Labrador, where he met and married his wife Kay, a mission nurse. This volume chronicles a winter odyssey that the Merricks took while accompanying a friend running his trapline. They suffer cold and exhaustion, and Merrick both suffers a gunshot wound and a severely cut toe, yet both find beauty, awe and inner peace in the freedom of the wintry world. While Merrick is unflinching in describing their hardships, his prose makes the winter world poetic and majestic, and the men and women who endure and triumph over it like heroes of old who are still down-to-earth. For anyone who's ever wanted to break away from the humdrum. Note: this was written in 1930, and some descriptions of the Native tribes are no longer "PC." However, Merrick is much more admiring of their lifestyle than others of his time.

The Sisters Grimm: The Unusual Suspects, Michael Buckley
Sabrina and Daphne Grimm were two orphans shunted from foster home to foster home until their grandmother came to claim them. Little did they know they were descended from the Grimm brothers, and that they were about to live in Ferryport, a hidden refugee town for all those fairy tale characters: the mayor is Prince Charming, still in love with schoolteacher Snow White, and the sheriff is one of the Three Little Pigs. In this outing, the girls start school, only for Sabrina to be terrorized by bullies and perplexed by perpetually sleepy classmates. Then her teacher is killed. What kind of creature is stalking Ferryport Elementary?

Buckley has created a fun mishmash of fairy tale creatures, fantasy events, and real-life children coping with them. The stories are suspenseful as well as seasoned with a generous dollop of humor. Be warned, however, that the tales do contain violence; these are not Disney fairy tale pastiches.

Favorite in Space

2010-05-26T22:11:00.004-04:00

One of my favorite short stories: "The Menace from Earth"

And while I'm posting favorite short stories, my two favorites:

"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"

"The Most Dangerous Game"

Books Finished Since April 1

2010-04-30T23:40:00.030-04:00

Jesus, Interrupted. Bart Ehrman
I wanted to read something theologically interesting for Easter, so this was one of two volumes I bought. I have not done any reading of the Bible in total for many years, but read my children's Bible from cover-to-cover (this was not a kiddy Bible with BIG COLORED WORDS and cartoony illustrations; it was the text simplified for pre-teens). Erhman, author of Misquoting Jesus, writes intelligently about the problem with conflicting statements in the new testament. Why does one Gospel tell the nativity story differently from the other? Why does one Gospel proclaim Jesus' divinity while the other doesn't? Why do ministers learn these facts in divinity school and not mention them to their congregations? Ehrman documents all the differences, then leaves you to make up your mind about your faith. I enjoyed reading this book, but it is not something I will be keeping. YMMV.

The National Parks: America's Best Idea, Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns
If you watched the PBS documentary, this is basically a print retelling of the event. Coffee-table size, with sturdy paper filled with photos of National Park landscapes as well as the people that shaped the parks: John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt (and Franklin), businessman-turned-National-Parks-director Stephen Mather and his assistant Horace Albright, Edward and Margaret Gehrkes (the epitome of National Park fans), George Melendez Wright, this volume ranges from pioneer discoveries to modern refuges, from train tourists to motoring maniacs, from the tragedy of Hetch Hetchy and the deforestation of the Smokies, John D. Rockefeller Jr. contributions, and more, including insets about modern-day park rangers. And did I mention the breathtaking photos, many of them double-page spreads? Highly recommended if you enjoyed the television presentation.

The Boneshaker, Kate Milford
Where do I start about this book? Well, it's 1914 in the tiny town of Arcane, Missouri, close to a crossroads that was abandoned in the mid-1800s after a bizarre epidemic. Thirteen-year-old Natalie Minks, daughter of the town's bicycle shop owner, her mother the best teller-of-tales in town, is a tomboy who loves nothing better to work with the machinery in her father's shop. And then one day things change: the town doctor departs to check on a mysterious illness nearby, while a traveling medicine show arrives in town. Natalie should be delighted—the show contains all types of neat automata (clockwork items)—but instead she only begins receiving visions of troubling things...

An utter page-turner: a little bit Something Wicked This Way Comes, a little Dr. Lao, a little Jules Verne, maybe even a bit Phantom Tollbooth, with a spunky heroine, a mysterious guitar-playing townsman, an unusual drifter who hits town at the same time as the medicine show, the creepy abandoned village at the crossroads where disaster seems to strike most vehicles passing through, terrifying dark places and mysterious mechanical men (hmmm...maybe even a little bit Wild, Wild West), and Natalie's "boneshaker" bicycle that she must master if things are to right themselves. Plus cool pen-and-ink illustrations throughout. Buy, buy, buy this book, especially if you are at all into fantasy, "steampunk," or folk tales.

Good Book, David Plotz
While Jesus, Interrupted was about the New Testament, this is about the Old: Plotz, a non-practicing Jew, realized that he had not really read the Old Testament, except that which he had to study in order to get his Bar Mitzvah. Based on Plotz's blog, "Blogging the Bible," this is Plotz's commentary on his readings. Biblical scholars and strict observers will probably find Plotz's narrative either irritating or sacrilegious. I had not read the Bible for some years, so the text refreshed all the familiar stories—with a lot more of the violence intact. In general Plotz keeps the tone light, and occasionally this gets wearying, but he reminds us all that the men and women of the Bible were no saints, but complicated human beings.

Secrets at Camp Nokomis, Jacqueline Dembar Greene
This is the first "Rebecca" mystery in the American Girls series, and I must admit that as a juvenile, it's not bad. Rebecca is attending camp sponsored by a charity group, having escaped New York right in the middle of an epidemic of polio which has quarantined her best friend Rose. Rebecca's high hopes of making friends fail after a promising start when she runs afoul of a selfish tentmate; meanwhile she tries to puzzle out her bunkmate, a shy, small girl who disappears at the oddest times.

However, there is a disadvantage in being an adult history buff reading this book: historical problems (to my eyes, at least). 1916, like it or not, was an extremely anti-Semitic time. Did Jewish children really go to the same camps as Catholic/Protestant children? Since numerous hotels/resorts/restaurants, etc. had "no Jews allowed" rules back then, it seems odd. (The book does address another form of prejudice. Perhaps the author didn't want to dump too many ugly truths on kids at once?) The camp Rebecca goes to is one for poor children, who didn't have the arranged crafts, swimming and canoe lessons; they were just there to play, eat healthy food, and get fresh air. Camps of the sort Rebecca attends were for middle-class to wealthy children. In addition, a young female character is found alone with a young male character. In 1916? He'd be forced to marry her when everyone found out! Did girls' camps even have male counselors back then? All the books I have read that take place in that era, like Hildegarde Frey's Camp Fire girls series, show girls' camps as strictly female domains.

Anyway, read to see how Rebecca copes with a bully and discovers a friend, but don't go to this one for historical accuracy.

Missing Grace, Elizabeth McDavid Jones
This is a page-turned, possibly the best Kit mystery yet, very close in feel to a Nancy Drew book. Grace, Kit's lovable basset hound, is a minor celebrity after she saves the Kittredges and their boarders from a chimney fire, but it doesn't keep her from being relegated to the back porch after a persnickety temporary boarder decrees she won't sleep with a dog in the house. But after Grace vanishes after one night on the porch, Kit, helped by her friends Ruthie and Stirling, must hunt her down. In the process, Kit—and the reader—learns more about the business of raising and showing dogs.

Hello, Everybody!: The Dawn of American Radio, Anthony Rudel
What industry was supported by sex rejuvenation promotions, free speech promoters, businesses scrambling for their customers' attention, followers who wanted to be on the cutting edge of technology, and performers (whether involved in show business or sports) looking for new outlets? If you said the internet, you'd be close, but wrong. This engaging book looks at the American radio industry before its Golden Age (when a simple voice reading a bedtime story or the newspaper or a musical number plinked out on a piano over the airwaves was considered miraculous) and the personalities involved in its ascension: Dr. Brinkley, the goat-gland man; soon-to-be-president Herbert Hoover; collegiate crooner Rudy Vallee, the first radio singing superstar; religious rivals Robert Schuler, Aimee Semple McPherson, and Father Coughlin; rising politician Franklin D. Roosevelt; and other colorful characters. It struck me so many times how early radio resembled the rise of the internet, and I'm certain it was the author's intention. If you're an OTR fan who'd like to know what came before the rise of Amos'n'Andy, The Kraft Music Hall, and other radio classics, this book may be just your cup of Postum.

The Riddle of the Paper Daughter, Kathryn Reiss
This, the third in the newest cycle of American Girl mysteries, and the next in the Julie stories, sets a less simplistic mystery than its predecessor. When her Chinese friend Ivy's grandparents donate some clothing to Julie's mom's trendy shop, Gladrags, Julie finds a note in Chinese in the pocket of an old jacket. She and Ivy discover it was a relic of Po-Po's (Ivy's grandmother) journey to America, a "coaching note." That same evening, Julie and Ivy's Chinese dolls are stolen. Why would someone steal them? Was it Ivy's Chinese class teacher? The mysterious ponytailed man who seems to be following the girls around? Or someone else? And can the two friends reunite Po-Po with a fellow shipmate who had become a dear friend? While you're figuring out the mystery, you will learn much about Chinese immigration to the United States and the ordeal that faced them on Angel Island when they arrived. A great mystery as well!

Happy Dog, Billy Rafferty and Jill Cahr
Frankly, I bought this book because it was on the bargain table, and, as a dog owner, wondered if it could tell me anything new about keeping a happy, healthy dog. Most of it is told in a light style which occasionally gets irritating when the author inserts a chirpy comment about "no-nos." (Mind, all of his concerns are very real; I am not making light of what he is commenting on.) Since the author is a professional groomer, as you can expect, a portion of the book is taken in instructions about bathing and grooming. While I am appalled at backyard dogs and dogs that are ignored by their families to the point where a groomer finds wounds and rubbish hidden in your dog's coat, if you spent as much time as Rafferty recommends on caring for the dog, you probably wouldn't have time to go to work, or wouldn't be able to own a dog. Sensibleness is the key here and this all seems overdone.

Farm Fresh Murder, Paige Shelton
Becca Robins lives on a small farm with her dog Hobbit, raising berries and other vegetables for preserves and jams which she sells every weekend at Bailey's Farmer's Market, which is run by her twin sister Allison. One Saturday morning Becca arrives late, only to discover there has been a murder—one of the other sellers has been killed with an axe—and the main suspect is her friend and fellow seller Abner Justen, a cantankerous old coot who, despite his personality, treats Becca like a daughter.

As always happens in cozies, Becca, convinced of Abner's innocence, gets involved in the investigation. There are several suspects, mostly people she works with, including a sexy guy Becca would like to get to know better, and the straitlaced police officer investigating the crime also provides a spark of romance within the investigation. Despite all this, I didn't feel as if the characters were ever fully fleshed. Becca's likable enough, but she never crossed the line to "real person" to me, and her relationships with sexy Ian and sober Sam reminds me eerily of the Maggie/Marcus/Tom triangle in Madelyn Alt's Bewitching series. The ending, in which Becca confronts the murderer, is quite suspenseful and adds to my rating a bit, but I'm not sure if I will read any more of these. Becca's dog is cute, though. :-)

Ooooh, New Julia Grey Book...

2010-04-07T19:49:00.001-04:00

...in October!

Dark Road to Darjeeling

Books Finished Since March 1

2010-03-31T23:42:00.050-04:00

Foundation, Mercedes Lackey (re-read)
Mercedes Lackey returns to her Valdemar universe after a five-year absences. While Foundation, set at the time that Herald's Collegium is being built (and being fussed about by older Heralds who think the old way of instructing novices one-on-one is fine), isn't terrible, it does read a bit like a young-adult novel rather than a tale for adults. And there is the usual plot: adolescent, badly treated (in this case, the boy protagonist Mags is a mine slave, so it's more serious than usual), is Chosen and finds happiness, but also finds challenges in the form of evil intentions by outsiders. In this case the "evil" comes late in the novel and is just a setup for the remainder of the trilogy, so nothing really earth-shaking happens. Still, it's another new Valdemar novel, and hopefully something a bit more exciting will occur in the sequels.

Blood and Circuses, Kerry Greenwood
In this sixth book in the Phryne Fisher series, Phryne is asked by carnival friends to find out who is trying to drive Farrell's Circus out of business. Phryne joins the circus as "Fern," a dancer turned trick rider (she learns to trick ride for the mission). In the meantime a hermaphrodite man who belonged to the same circus dies in a boarding house nearby; a former circus performer is accused of his death.

This is a fascinating entry in the Phryne Fisher series, giving you an inside look at a traveling circus in 1928 Australia and a glimpse of the people who work there: clowns who are thought unlucky, unusual people like dwarves and hermaphrodites who are accepted in the circus where they would not be anywhere else. Phryne, who has taken the job because she was bored, learns about loneliness and fear. We're also given a glimpse of Australian gangsters and street crime of the 1920s, including a prostitute who's becoming a drug addict. As is usual with a Phryne Fisher book, all the lads are attracted to her, and she manages to have hot sex with two different men. But it's a cracking good mystery as well.

Murder in the Dark, Kerry Greenwood
In the next to the latest of the Phryne Fisher books, she is invited to "the Last Best Party of 1928" at a home rented by an English brother and sister, a "golden couple" who attract hangers-on who worship them and act as servants to their whims. Phryne's not certain if she'll attend until a series of threats urge her to keep away. Since no one tells the Hon. Miss Fisher what to do, Phryne arrives at the rented estate to rub hands and horns with sycophants, Bright Young Things, and other denizens attending the party. Then a child the siblings have adopted is kidnapped and someone starts sending Phryne a series of riddles.

The story is a vivid portrait of bored wealthy youth and their hangers-on in the 1920s. It was the puzzle, Phryne, and the young man who she befriended that kept me reading, as the siblings and their friends were frankly obnoxious. I couldn't imagine a more horrendous group to spend the New Year with, which, of course, made the ending all the worse (and all the more ironic).

Have You Seen My Country Lately?, Jerry Doyle
As I get older, I start to wonder what has happened to our freedoms: the rise of the "nanny state," kids afraid to go outside and play, not to mentioned threatened at school by other children whose parents seem to make no attempt to control them, more rules and regulations leading to more chaos instead of less, people who would rather sue than take responsibility for their actions. Doyle echoes many of my concerns about the eroding of our rights and the obliviousness of the politicians that are supposed to represent us. I also enjoyed the brief biographical information included.

The Book of Lists: The 90s Edition, David Wallechinsky and Amy Wallace
I have all the Book of List volumes, which are fun reading, like popcorn in print. Perfect bathroom books, or bedside reading.

The Mapping of Love and Death, Jacqueline Winspear
In 1914, Michael Clifton intends to purchase valuable California land under which he believes is oil. While he is enroute to the East coast, war breaks out in Europe, and Clifton feels the need to serve the country of his father's birth. Eighteen years later, Clifton's body is unearthed in a trench, and it looks as if he met his death not by wartime action, but by malicious intent. His parents engage private inquiry agent Maisie Dobbs to dig into Michael's past, especially to see if she can find a mysterious nurse who appeared in love letters found with Michael's body.

This is an excellent volume in the Maisie Dobbs series. The title references not only Maisie's search into Michael's life (he was a cartographer), but of the changes happening in her personal life as well. For years Maisie has held herself aloof from most relationships, except those with her mentor Maurice Blanche and her father. Now, between her friend Pen's matchmaking attempts and the appearance of someone from her past, Maisie is faced with re-examination of her future. Time is also forcing her to face another event she has dreaded.

I find Winspear's prose enjoyable, whether telling us of Maisie's inner turmoil as well as walking us through her deductive reasoning, or describing 1930s England and the repercussions left behind by World War I. She has made me feel as if all her characters are family: Maisie, her father, Maurice, Lord and Lady Compton and their son, Maisie's assistant Billy and his family, Andrew Dene, and others introduced in the course of the series. I look forward to following Maisie into the future.

Scent of the Missing: Love & Partnership With a Search and Rescue Dog, Susannah Charleson
This is an enjoyable book about the training of Puzzle, a Golden retriever, for search and rescue, interspersed with the author's memories of her own training in the field (and occasionally personal reasons for her involvement in the work). I enjoyed Charleson's descriptive language; if it gets occasionally flowery, it paints evocative word pictures of search sites, inclement weather, the dogs as they work, the scents and sounds of a disaster area, the tension surrounding a search and the uncertainties of the process, victims and families. As in real life, some of the searches are not resolved, and some end tragically. A particularly absorbing chapter that takes place before Charleson adopted Puzzle concerns her participation in looking for wreckage from the Columbia space shuttle.

While the search and rescue chapters are absorbing, some of the best parts of the book are about Puzzle's relationship with Charleson's family of Pomeranians, each a rescue, including an elderly, blind dog who was allowed to wander away from his deceased owner's home by her children because they didn't want the animal. Puzzle's relationship with "Scuppy" is especially memorable. Recommended for dog lovers as well as those interested in search and rescue work.

House Unauthorized: Vasculitis, Clinic Duty and Bad Bedside Manner, ed. by Leah Wilson
If you are a fan of House, MD, you may enjoy these essays about the various aspects of the series. Sections include House, the show; House the character; the psychology of Gregory House; and his interactions with the other characters. I have to confess I found the opening essay, where different fictional "concepts" (like "House, Heating and Plumbing Contractor") were supposedly tried out before a hospital setting was decided on, fell a bit flat in the humor department.

However, the majority of the pieces in this volume were of interest. Particularly noted: one comparing House to Hawkeye Pierce, another comparing Sherlock Holmes (the basis for the character) to House, and a fascinating query into why the fact House takes drugs to control debilitating pain is considered bad. There are also two essays about Wilson's role as sidekick, one postulating that Wilson, at least part time, may be a figment of House's imagination, plus another about how Cameron, Chase, and Foreman each reflect a part of House's personality.

WindowsXP Timesaving Techniques for Dummies, 2nd Edition, Woody Leonhard
These are...surprise!...timesaving techniques for WindowsXP! I read through this book, but merely browsed some sections, not really interested in optimizing Internet Explorer, which I only use as a CITGO gateway. Leonhard writes in a light, humorous style to keep your interest in what might be a deadly subject to some. I found his instructions to do a System Restore very helpful (it didn't help the problem, but now I know how to do it). Neat stuff like desktop e-mail shortcuts, using Windows Media Player to rip CDs to mp3s, even a section on using a scanner effectively. And, as always, battling spam and viruses.

Winging It, Jenny Gardiner
Scott and Jenny Gardiner had always wanted a parrot. Four months after the birth of their first child, Scott's brother gives them a wild-caught, terrified and traumatized African grey fledgeling.

This is the story of the Gardiners' life with "Graycie," as the bird was named, who never seemed comfortable in the Gardiners' busy home, eventually full of three children, two cats, and a dog who seemed allergic to almost everything. Despite Graycie's hostile personality, the Gardiners took their responsibility to her seriously and continued to try to bridge the gap between themselves and their reluctant pet. Once the family moves to a home where Graycie has her own space, it seems they may start making progress with her, but even this is interrupted by family emergencies, including a frightening series of seizures affecting their older daughter.

I have been a bird lover since childhood, with a succession of budgies, so this story struck rather close to home. I admired the family's decision not to make Graycie a disposable pet, but felt bad for Graycie as well: while Jenny and Scott never ignored Graycie for stupid things like endless cocktail parties, social climbing, and shopping sprees, it seems there were so many genuine family crises that kept them from being able to bond more with their bird. Indeed, Gardiner spends several pages apologizing for the times attention to Graycie had to take second place to childrens' injury/sickness, her own health problems, and home problems.

Therefore I was a bit ambivalent about my enjoyment of the book in total, but would recommend it to bird lovers, especially to those who might think owning a bird in the parrot species is "easy" and you will immediately have a cute, funny pet like those macaws and cockatoos in films, or they will be decorative and decorous. Like ownership of any pet, or parenting of a child, owning a parrot is a lifetime responsibility.

Wishing for Tomorrow, Hilary McKay
The tendency at the end of a classic book with beloved characters is for the reader to wonder "what happened next." Some folks just daydream about it, some write fanfiction, but there are others with enough reputation to have publishers who will support a sequel effort. Some really don't work out, like Susan Moody's hideous Misselthwaite (Return to the Secret Garden), an adult effort which managed to malign the characters of the original novel. Some are good efforts which fall flat, like Before Green Gables.

This children's sequel to The Little Princess, however, is quite readable, remains fairly close to the characters as originated by Burnett, and keeps up a good pace. McKay doesn't try to imitate the Victorian style under which Burnett wrote, which is both good and bad: the narration often seems simplistic next to Burnett's, lacking her wordcraft skills, and words which sound too modern creep in now and again. She also steers away from the unfortunate Victorian tendency to pigeonhole "well bred people" as those who would not willingly do anything wrong or sink into degradation.

If you were hoping to see more of Sara Crewe, you will be disappointed: she is a sideline character in this story, chiefly appearing in letters to Ermengarde, who continues to struggle against being an average child in a household full of overachievers. Snobby Lavinia comes into her own in the story as well, as we discover the reason for her vindictiveness, which uncovers the hidden bitterness in Miss Minchin's life as well. Lottie has turned into a bit of a brat in the story (one longs to make her sit down and shush), and the new maid who replaces Becky is very outspoken, not acting at all like the typical Victorian servant. However, these are minor problems; as sequels go, it is enjoyable and recommended for anyone who wonders "what happened next."