Happy New Year to you all! It's been kind of a strange winter so far. We've had some slightly warm days alternating with some really cold days; not much snow but some icing conditions; and a couple of storms in the upcoming forecast. just your typical January, I guess. Good weather to curl up with a good book, though. Here's a couple that you might be interested in checking out.
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes And The Sacred Sword - Frank Thomas ($2.95/$.25, copyright 1980, 240 pages, Paperback)
This has a great twist on a standard beginning. Holmes and Watson are home on a typical, dreary London evening when one of Holmes' "associates" comes in with a dying man. The "associate" said that the man had asked for Holmes so he brought him right over. Before they can get any information from the dying man he gasps out .."They found it." .. and dies. Holmes realizes that the man wasn't looking for him but for his brother, Mycroft. This makes it political and turns out to involve a problem with a potential uprising in the Middle East. The rest of the book involves the search for Mohammad's battle sword - the "Sacred Sword" - and a race across two continents against a master criminal who wants it for his own reasons. Thomas does a good job with Holmes and some other familiar characters but I thought he treated Watson more like the Nigel Bruce version. Still, I enjoyed it.
Miscellaneous
Joyland - Stephen King ($12.95/$.50, copyright 2013, 283 pages, Trade Paperback)
I gave up on King years ago for several reasons, one of which was that I didn't think he was able to write a decent ending. I picked this one up because it's centered around a carnival and I'm a sucker for carnivals. (Sadly, this did not turn out to be a traveling carnival filled with weird acts.) Here we have a young man, Devin Jones, who takes a summer job in Joyland, a stationary carnival in North Carolina. He makes friends with a couple of the other "Greenies" - Tom and Erin - and they do everything from clean-up duty through wearing "The Fur" - a dog suit of Howie the Happy Hound, the park's mascot. I loved the carny language King uses (and, thankfully, explains). There's also a minor ghost story and Devin becomes obsessed with a string of unsolved murders. But it's more of a coming-of-age story then anything else, and - in my opinion - more of a Bachman book. To me, it felt padded and could have done with some editing and the ending was too abrupt. It was okay.
This next book needs some explanation.
When I was a kid back in the early '50's, we didn't have the electronics or social media of today (obviously). What we had was black-and-white TV and books to keep us entertained - when we weren't outside playing with our friends. Anyway, my 2 maternal aunts were nuns - Sisters of St. Dominic out of Blauvelt, N. Y. - and would come by to visit several times a year. (Side Note: My Aunt Katherine is 92 and still causing trouble at the Mother House.) One Christmas - I think when I was about 8 - they brought my older brother and I two books, both - of course - with a religious connection. One was "Fighting Father Duffy" about the chaplain with the Fighting 69th during World War II. The other was this one which I serendipitously came across while looking up something else on one of the discount book sites that I visit from time to time ..........
Percy Wynn, or Making a Boy of Him - Fr. Francis J. Finn, S. J. ($9.00*/$3.31, copyright 1893, 248 pages, Paperback)
Percy is a young man who's been raised by overprotective parents and 10 older sisters. He's been kept from the company of other young boys but, due to circumstances, has now been thrust into an all male school. Fr. Flynn uses a cast of other boys, led by Tom Playfair (not too subtle a name) and his friends - representing fine, upstanding young Catholic boys - and Charlie Richards and his friends - representing the bullies - to educate Percy and the young reader in how to become a good person. I admit that this book is outdated and probably will not appeal to anyone outside of my generation. The world has changed a lot since I first read this and Percy's effeminate mannerisms would now be seen in a different light. (As would a priest writing about an all boy's school, I would imagine.) Still, there's an anachronistic element to this book that lured me in and a nostalgia that made me smile. I enjoyed it.
* I couldn't find a cover price on this volume so I took the new book price from Amazon.
Up next is February and you may find me start reviewing a lot of children's books since the Baby Shower for my first Grandchild - a girl - will be on Valentine's Day.
Till then, keep warm and ....
Keep reading.
