Three odd ducks: buttoned up Henry Ford, famed inventor Thomas Edison, and, for the first few years of the trip, naturalist John Burroughs, took road trips together on the primitive vehicles of the time.
I was fascinated by the thought of Huckleberry Finn narrated by his companion Jim, until I read the book. Fascinating opening chapters about Jim's relationship with lonely Huck degenerates into a detour that has Jim performing with a minstrel troupe founded by Daniel Decatur Emmett who wrote "Dixie." I was very disappointed.
Last book in the Wilmot sisters' trilogy. Juliet Wilmot is in Scotland, having escaped from a controlling fiance. She runs into shy Will Orsino, who turns out to be the best friend of her sister's finance, and tries to give him lessons in romance. The lessons turn into the real thing.
Nonfiction. The story of a woman working with the Behavioral Analysis Unit at the FBI.
The latest in the Bess Crawford series has our newly demobbed nursing sister accepting a job taking care of a minor noblewoman after gall bladder surgery. Lady Beatrice receives word that a member of her family has been seriously injured and asks Bess to help him, only for Bess to find out the young man is accused of having killed another man. Can she sort out the mystery before an innocent man is arrested?
The postwar adventures are not quite as taut as the wartime ones, but there is a hint of a different relationship approaching for Bess and her friend Simon Brandon.
An argument over who owns the bones of a dinosaur dug up on Native American land results in the death of Danny Lone Elk, who owned the property. An assistant district attorney and a passel of FBI agents make solving the crime even more difficult for Sheriff Walt Longmire, who enlists the help of his friends Lucian Connolly and Omar Rhoades. A subplot involving Walt's daughter Cady and her baby daughter Lola also holds repercussions for Longmire.
I love these books, but if I hear one more description about Vic's "tarnished" eyes I think I'm going to scream.
28 February 2025
Books Completed in February 2025
31 January 2025
Books Completed in January 2025
A Warwickshire Christmas, edited by David Green A West Country Christmas, edited by Chris Smith The Race to the Future, Kassia St. ClairEnjoyable narrative about a race from Peking to Paris in 1908, set against the history of the time. Annoying, however, were mistakes like these: "...their mud-caked crews in driving coats, hats and googles." And the biggie: "William Penn...who designed Philadelphia...[e]ach of the dwellings in his city—whose name translates to 'Penn's Woods'..." Um, no. Pennsylvania means "Penn's Woods." Philadelphia means "city of brotherly love."
Special Agent: My Life on the Front Lines as a Woman in the FBI, Candice DeLongNonfiction.
Not Another Love Song, Julie SotoProfessional violinist Gwen Jackson is offered first chair of the Manhattan Pops orchestra to the displeasure of Xander Thorne, cellist extraordinare. However, they're both attracted to each other.
04 January 2025
Favorite Books of 2024
The Boys, Ron and Clint Howard (the Howard boys' breezy story of their careers) The Personal Librarian, Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray (a novel based on the fascinating story of Belle da Costa Greene, J.P. Morgan's personal librarian, who was "passing" for white) Getting Smarter, Barbara Feldon (Feldon's story of her career and her unusual marriage to Lucien Feldon) Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Will Kemmerer (Native American traditions lovingly described and the use of them to combat modern pollution) The Kiss Quotient, Helen Hoang (the first of three novels about romance and neurodivergent characters) The Wonderful World of James Herriot, with additions by Emma Marriot (mostly retellings from Herriot's books, but with real-life framing sequences about Alf Wight and his family) Sophie Go's Lonely Hearts Club, Roselle Lim (a Chinese girl who failed matchmaking school comes home determined to make a go of it anyway, despite her mother's criticism) Vesper Flights, Helen McDonald (essays by McDonald, author of H is for Hawk; I liked it better) American Ramble, Neil King, Jr. (King walks from Washington DC to New York City via back roads to discover "real America") Front Desk, Kelly Yang (uplifting book about a Chinese girl and her parents who take over running a motel from a conniving manager) A Different Mirror, Ronald Talaki (the history of the United States as seen by the marginalized: enslaved persons, indentured servants, women, immigrants, Irish peasants, Asian workers, Hispanics) Sensational: The Hidden History of America's “Girl Stunt Reporters”, Kim Todd (women break away from reporting about society events and cooking by going undercover; the history of Nellie Bly and her sister "stunt reporters") Over My Dead Body, Greg Melville (the history of cemeteries in the U.S., from "boneyards" and hidden slave graveyards to regal parks like Mount Auburn Cemetery)31 December 2024
Books Completed Since December 1
A Staffordshire Christmas, edited by Robin Pearson Tales of Christmas, edited by Amy Newmark Sleigh Bells for Windy Foot, Frances Frost Dear America: Christmas After All, Kathryn Lasky The Tuckers: The Cottage Holiday, Jo Mendel Mystery for Christmas, edited by Richard Dalby Christmas TV Memories, Herbie J. Pilato30 November 2024
Books Completed Since November 1
Yeah, don't faint. I only read two books in November, and I didn't finish the second one. (I do intend to finish; it is a great book!) Along with desperately searching for any relief for James' tremendous back pain and seeing doctor after doctor and his getting a full MRI and CT scan of his spine on a Saturday night and a bone density test, I was nursing a sick dog for the second half of the month (the vet doesn't know what happened, but Tucker was very ill and could have died and I had to syringe feed him; when this dog won't eat he is sick). I did manage to finish writing a fanfic and start another one for Christmas.
This is the third book in a series about a community called Glimmer Falls, where all sort of magical folk live: werewolves, witches, vampires, centaurs, etc. Ben Rosewood who runs the town plant store, is a shy werewolf who hates the full moon, knits, and has panic attacks. To get up the courage to give a speech at his friends' wedding, he gets drunk, and inadvertently buys a 99 cent crystal on e-Bay that supposedly holds an imprisoned succubus. To his surprise, it actually does: Eleonore Bettencourt-Devereux, half succubus, half vampire, who was trapped in the crystal by a witch who put a spell on her over 600 years ago. While Ben wonders what he's to do with this stunning young woman, who is now bound to him, Eleonore just thirsts for revenge on her former captor, until she starts to thirst for Ben and soon he does for her as well.
I didn't read the other books in the series, but this is a cute little rom-com about two very different personalities who bond with each other, with a colorful cast of supporting characters, including an uplifting pixie, Ben's sister who's running for mayor, and Ben's very supportive friends.
This is the book I haven't finished, but want to because it's damned good. It doesn't make Europeans out to be total monsters, just people who don't understand that just because Native American civilizations didn't progress to cities and commerce like Europeans had, that they weren't some sort of ignorant savages, but practiced a sufficient lifestyle that suited them. The Native Americans, in turn, are not all drawn as saints or "Magic Indians" with special spiritual powers; they are people content with their lifestyle who practiced diplomacy and trade within their society; when Europeans came along with trade goods, many of them wished to give up the lifestyle and live as Europeans did, only to be treated with contempt and distrust and finally, and always, driven west as more Europeans swarmed over the "free" land. Even though I'm only three-quarters done with the book, I find it engagingly written, forthright on its subjects, and an illuminating look at the destruction of a working human ecosystem ruined by forcing an unsuitable lifestyle upon the Americans already occupying this continent.
31 October 2024
Books Completed Since October 1
I never could resist a good linguistics book, and this was an enjoyable one.
In nineteen chapters, Lerer sketches watershed moments in the English language, from the poetry of Old English to modern vernacular. Indeed, much of the changes discussed relate to poetry, which is different from most of the English language books I have. Once French enters the scene, it becomes the language of politics and of the wealthy. Words not only change, but word order changes as well, and dialects change depending on what region of England you're from. Then along comes the Great Vowel Shift (you didn't think we could talk about the English language without this phenomenon, did you?). Chapters on Samuel Johnson's dictionary and American English and regionalisms are especially interesting.
After seventeen mysteries and several adventures along the way, this is the final novel in the Maisie Dobbs series.
World War II is over. Maisie, consulting detective for several decades, is now married to American Mark Scott, a Federal employee. They have an adopted daughter, Anna. Maisie discovers that four teenagers are living in her old Belgravia house, and that they are nursing a shell-shocked and gravely ill former soldier. As she helps them, she discovers a secret about her late husband James Compton.
In Maisie's final story, her future takes a new turn, and we see somewhat into the future of her family, her friends, and even some new family. In a surprising turn, I learned that, because of fears of invasion by the Nazis, the British recruited and trained orphan teenagers to be assassins.
I will certainly miss Maisie and her extended family. Perhaps Winspear might update their story sometime so that we find out what happened to Anna, Priscilla's sons, and others.
This is a biography of Mary Mapes Dodge, who wore many hats in her life, especially as the editor of the magazine "St. Nicholas," one of my favorite things, but she is most famous as the author of the children's book Hans Brinker; or The Silver Skates. Known as "Lizzie" in her family, she grew up in a literary family who published magazines. Lizzie later married William Dodge, but when family fortunes started reversing, and one of their children became sick, Dodge abandoned the family and was later found to have committed suicide. Lizzie was forced to support her family and thus became the editor of one of the most famous children's magazines of all time, sharing correspondence with some of the most famous writers of the time.
I was happy to find this book because of my love for "St. Nicholas," and indeed, there is almost as much about the magazine as there is about her most famous book. It's very oddly written; I can't explain totally, but it has sort of a folksy narrative that is very odd in a biography. Sometimes it annoyed me a bit; I would have preferred it more conventionally written. But it was the most I'd ever heard about Mary Mapes Dodge, who was once a household name.
This is the first book in Harkness' sequel to the All Souls trilogy that began with A Discovery of Witches. Matthew de Clermont and Diana Bishop have lived a quiet life since Diana confronted the Congregation, raising their twin children Philip and Rebecca. They are planning to take their usual summer in London when they are summoned: because they are "Bright Born," the children must be tested by the Congregation as they turn seven. Based on her own childhood experiences, Diana is afraid that Pip and Becca will be found wanting or dangerous, and will be spellbound as was.
Diana flees with the children to Ravenswood, her mother's family's home, where a community of witches also stand in judgment toward her. Later some of the community embrace her, and others see her as an enemy. It's here she will learn secrets about her mother's family.
It's not as compelling as Discovery, but I love the universe and the characters. I was a little disappointed that all of a sudden that Diana's father, who has appeared as a nice character in the previous books, seems to become a different person in this one, and not a pleasant one. I fear she might be retconning things to make the female characters more powerful. Still, I'm looking forward to the future of this series.
I picked this up at a book sale thinking it was about unusual places in London. Instead, it contains anecdotes about the eccentric people who lived in London over the years, including Samuel Johnson, Samuel Pepys, and Sydney Smith. Some of the names are well-known, like the Mountbattens, the Duke of Devonshire, Sir Walter Raleigh, the infamous Nell Gwynn, and more.
I found this to be very funny reading before bed and am glad I spent the $1.50 on tit.
After her awful Eye Spy, which was ruined by her totally obvious hatchet job on an unpopular (yet truly odious) politician (it could have been done so much more subtly, but no, she had to be so obvious about it that it was stupid), this final book in the trilogy about Mags and Amily's brood is a corker. Tory, the youngest, has been the best friend of Prince Kyril "Kee" since babyhood. Neither of them have been Chosen by companions, and their combined Gift (Kee can amplify Tory's farseeing) makes them prime agents to go undercover in Karse to rescue the kidnapped daughter of Bey, Mags' cousin, a professional assassin.
Siratai, however, is holding her own. Being held hostage in a keep with magic baffles, the talented assassin is keeping her Karse captors at bay, but it will take more than the assistance from Earth elementals to get her from her prison.
Tory and Kee take second place in this story to Sira, who is a kick-ass, clever protagonist. You can read this just for her.
This is a fascinating history of the United States from the point of view of the earliest graveyards in Jamestown which show the conditions that first winter were so bad that the remaining explorers resorted to cannibalism through the years of graveyards to cemeteries to memorial parks, and finally the future of cemeteries, given the lack of land and the damage modern burial does to the environment. One chapter talks about how Plymouth settlers' survival depended on robbing Native American graves; another addresses how enslaved persons' graves were relegated to neglected areas of plantations. Fascinating insights into how embalming became popular after the Civil War (and how embalmed bodies are polluting our planet), how cemeteries became parks, military cemeteries, the infamous "Forest Lawn," and more.
Terrific reading.
Part of the "Witches of Thistle Grove" series. Four families live in Thistle Grove, the earth witch Thorns, the Avramovs (who deal with dark magic), the Blackmoores descended from Camelot, and the Harlows. During Beltane celebrations, dark magic attacks Holly Thorn, nearly killing her and halting her magic. Her cousin Rowan Thorn, and Isidora Avramov, who summons demons for fun, are partnered to solve the mystery. Issy has a history with Rowan that isn't pleasant, but she tries to act professional. Naturally, they fall in love with each other.
I found some of the magic intriguing. Isadora and Rowan, not so much.
30 September 2024
Books Completed Since September 1
A re-read in real book form: FBI Special Agent Kimberley Reynolds, who was introduced in
Aaronovitch's "Rivers of London" in Whispers Under Ground, is the
focus of this short novella with a seasonal theme (after The October Man
and What Abigail Did That Summer). A retired FBI agent calls in an
alarm about a mysterious event in Eloise, Wisconsin, that no one
understands until Reynolds finds out about it. She travels to Eloise to
find that portions of the town have been destroyed by an "ice tornado,"
the FBI agent is missing, and some ominous creatures are wandering the
shore of the nearby lake.
This starts out slowly, with Reynolds narrating her involvement due to
her knowledge of esoteric activity that she learned from Peter Grant
during his involvement in the previous case and talking about her past.
However, the pace picks up very quickly as odd "monsters" creep out of a
blizzard and wreak havoc in the town. The end is a tense chase straight
out of a horror film as a long-buried curse has been unearthed
involving Native American spirits.
I enjoyed this although it was a different narrative from the
British-set books. Some British-isms do creep in, but I don't find them
all that distracting. Reynolds herself is an interesting character
because she was brought up as a strict Christian, but is now dealing
with otherworldly events with no relation to the beliefs her mother
tried to instill in her. I also liked the slow-attraction romance that
is very peripherally part of the story (the ending is particularly
sweet).
Faye Kaplan is an imperfect potter. Due to an abusive childhood, she has an injured hand, so her creations always turn out a little wonky, and she hates them for being imperfect. She lives in Woodstock, NY, with a rescue dog who's definitely not toilet trained, and feels her life is finally going the right way—until anti-Semitic flyers are scattered across town. Faye, who has embraced a future as a "Jewitch," in a drunken panic creates a protective golem which she buries in the backyard.
Next day, on the way to an emergency meeting at the local synagogue, she strikes and knocks over a man with her bike. Upon waking up, "Greg" can't remember anything about himself, so in a fit of remorse Faye welcomes him into her home to nurse him while he recovers. Did I mention Greg was a hot redhead, and looked a lot like the clay golem she created? Did I mention he was very sweet, but Faye was afraid he was going to end up like every golem in literature?
A whimsical story about magic surrounds a serious plot about growing anti-Semitism in the suburbs, as Faye fights the loathing of her imperfections and the growing kindness of Greg with the help of her elderly, hoot-and-a-half neighbor Nelly. A sweet, not spicy, romance about a serious subject from an unusual angle.
In 1885, an "anxious father" wrote to a Pittsburgh newspaper asking what to do with his five daughters. They had graces but no marriage prospects, and everyone knew that all girls were "fit for" were having babies and marrying. A young woman who wanted to do neither wrote an impassioned response that women had brains and could do many things—if men would permit it. Invited to the newspaper office, spunky Elizabeth Cochrane was offered a job. Later she moved to New York City and became famous as "Nellie Bly," the woman who infiltrated a Gotham madhouse and told the truth about how the women were treated there—and that some people there weren't even insane; they were just there because they wouldn't do what their husbands or fathers told them.
Thus began the era of the "girl stunt reporters." After Bly's exploits, all the big newspapers wanted one; sales improved! They infiltrated sweatshops, visited abortionists, and generally went places a male reporter would have been seen as suspicious. They brought to light all sorts of social injustices and did bring about change. However, the rise of newspapers taking sides in political issues and promoting wars and colonialism brought the crusading women down: they were accused of contributing to "yellow journalism."
Fascinating study of Cochrane, Ida Tarbell, Helen Cusack, Elizabeth Bisland, and the other women who tired of reporting social events and clothing styles and instead went undercover in hidden places.
Olivia Huang Christenson is taking over her grandmother's matchmaking business now that her Aunt Lydia is retiring from Lunar Love, their family business based on the twelve signs of the Chinese Zodiac. Olivia believes in doing things the old-fashioned way, with strict adherence to the signs, and is dismayed when Bennett O'Brien, biracial like herself, sets up a "fun new dating app" ZodiaCupid that uses the same idea—sort of. Bennett, however, believes in only a loose approach to the Zodiac idea. It's even more awkward when Liv realizes Bennett is the cute guy she flirted with at her favorite bakery!
Slow moving but sweet romance about differing opinions (and emotions; Liv is reluctant to veer from tradition after her own match didn't work out and she lost a friend over another), plus enjoying the cultural traditions of the mixed Chinese families portrayed in the story. I never did figure out what Cookie Day was, but, no matter.
Long ago, a boy named Stephen Moss was fascinated by the name of a small bird, "Mrs. Moreau's warbler." Who was this Mrs. Moreau, and why did she get a bird named after her?
You'll find out this and the origins of other bird names, from the old, traditional ones which come from now-disused languages or onomatopoeia—did you know the oldest surviving bird name in English is probably "goose"?—to later words that relied on descriptions, to the development of scientific names.
Note that this is a British book and mostly British bird names, but some American English bird names are included. Along the way you meet the amateur and then professional ornithologists who gave us the names. Great fun if you are both interested in birds and love etymology.
When they say "they don't make 'em like that anymore," it certainly applies to this book. It's a collection of Taber's short stories that would have been at home in any women's or general American magazine of the time, all concerning people and their dogs. Some are wartime/postwar stories, including the initially grim story of a soldier trapped in his wrecked tank and the tale of a shell-shocked man who's about to give up on life. Some are fit for teen magazines, like the opening story about a dog training club that admits a new member or the funny "Just a Little Havoc" about a young man who babysits his girlfriend's Irish setter.
All warm and cozy like a fleece blanket and hot chocolate on a winter's day.
31 August 2024
Books Completed Since August 1
Leather & Lark, Brynne WeaverIn Weaver's first book, Butcher & Blackbird, we met Rowan and Sloane, two serial killers who slake their thirst for death by killing other serial killers (and child molesters). Now we follow Rowan's brother Lachlan, a contract killer who is basically in thrall to the man who pulled him and his brothers out of trouble, and Lark Montague, Sloane's best friend since boarding school, where Sloane avenged her abuse and her best friend's abuse by a teacher.
When Lachlan has to get Lark out of a jam, he thinks she's a spoiled princess; when he locks her in the trunk of a car, she hates him. However, as the two re-encounter each other, they discover that an unknown killer is after Rowan and Sloane, and that Lark's family might be targeting Lachlan for the wrong reason. So they arrange a marriage of convenience—just to save his life, you understand—and then Lachlan discovers Lark's secret habit.
Lachlan and Lark aren't quite as spontaneous as Rowan and Sloane, but there are plenty of surprises in this dark romance. Warning: very violent with graphic descriptions.
In Pursuit of Jefferson, Derek BaxterBaxter was once a die-hard Thomas Jefferson fanatic, trying to look past the man's weaknesses, especially his adherence to that "peculiar institution," slavery, in the light of his ideas about liberty. He decides to tour Europe following Jefferson's itinerary after taking part in a marathon in which he dresses up as Jefferson. About halfway through, the specter of slavery begins to trip him up, and he wonders if he should follow this founding father after all.
I knew this book wasn't by a historian, and I generally like books by amateur historians following a certain historical path; what I wasn't prepared for was a wine tour, even though I know Jefferson was big into wines and planted a vineyard at Monticello. But there's too much wine-tasting here, and repetition of how guilty he feels for liking a man who supported slavery. The whole of Jefferson should be considered, including the bad; you can't stick him up on a pedestal and declare him perfect because he wasn't. Once or twice was enough to tell us about your guilt.
Wine-tasting is boring. Period. Enough books about wine.
Happy Place, Emily HenrHarriet and Wyn met in college and have been soulmates ever since, or so their best friends think. But when they reunite for one final get-together at a family-owned Maine cottage for the annual lobster festival before the cottage is sold, they're keeping a secret: they've broken up, and they don't know how to broach the idea to their friends. In the meantime, Harriet—working long hours as a physician—and Wyn, who's gone back to his family in Montana and is now happily making furniture, have to navigate the feelings they still have for each other, how their lives are changing, and the future.
As always, Henry discusses the serious things behind the fun and friends: family expectations, the effects of depression, the perils of not voicing your dreams. Enjoyed this one, but it makes you hurt, too.
A Different Mirror, Ronald TakakiWhile all those famous (and white Protestant male) figures in United States history were getting their names and the dates in the history books, what about the ordinary folks and the newcomers? Takaki follows each of the groups—Native Americans, Black, Latino, Irish, East and Central Asian, Jewish and other non-Christian, and currently Middle Eastern—as they try to fit into the mythology that has grown up around the founding of the country. Broken treaties, broken promises, and much bigotry ensued. See what "the little people" (the workers and the outsiders) were doing while "history was writ larger" in the traditional books. Brings a richer palette to the American experience.
Valdemar, Mercedes LackeyThis is the final book in "The Founding of Valdemar" series, in which the refugees from Baron Kordas Valdemar's have taken root in an old Hawkbrothers stronghold on the banks of a river, building the city which will become Haven. They still worry about an attack from the old Empire, but the stakes become deadly when it's discovered that a vicious, rogue mage has been extending tendrils into the area for months. Can they defend themselves? Kordas' meditation brings about the creation of the Companions and the development of the Herald system. In the meantime, Restal, the king's oldest, discovers a kindred spirit, as does Delia, the queen's sister.
Enjoyed this, but what's with all the emphasis on the cat? I love cats, but the worshiping of Sydney-you-asshole is excessive.