Books Finished Since July 1

 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

 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

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

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

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...

...in October!

Dark Road to Darjeeling

Books Finished Since March 1

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."