When I started this blog back in November of 2009, I wasn't sure where I was going with it. I intended it to be, at best, a sporadic posting of books I'd read, shows/movies I'd seen, opinions I had, and personal experiences that I had a strong emotional reaction to. Over the years, that has been simplified into a monthly recap of just the books I'd read. Two years ago, I began to substitute "Bookmarks" for several monthly posts due to the medical situation I was in. This year I actually missed a couple of months due to a continuation of the same situation. Since then, I've been bouncing back and forth between several novels but I have to admit that my concentration has been flagging. I've been spending a lot of time binge-solving crossword puzzles but I did manage to get through a couple of short books.
Series
Friday The Rabbi Slept Late - Harry Kemelman ($4.99/$.50, copyright 1964, 198 pages, Paperback)
When I was working as a Business Systems Analyst I dealt with a lot of programmers and the largest majority of them were Orthodox Jews. I learned a lot about them and when I came across this, I took to it at once. This is the first of Kemelman's Rabbi Small novels and won the Edgar award in 1965 as Best First Novel. David Small has been the Rabbi to a congregation in Barnard's Crossing, Massachusetts for about a year and his contract is up for renewal. Many of the congregation members are unhappy with him and there looks to be a struggle looming over his qualifications. Then the body of a local Nanny, Elspeth Bleech, turns up in the parking lot of the Temple and Rabbi Small becomes the prime suspect. Kemelman has created some great characters here - Rabbi Small is well defined as a thoughtful, deeply religious man and Hugh Lanigan is the affable Irish-Catholic Police Chief who investigates. Their friendship grows from there and is perfectly believable. The various members of the congregation are somewhat typical stock players like Becker the Car Dealer and Doble the Maintenance Man but some like Wasserman the President are also given their own personalities. This is a nice little mystery with a nice twist but it's also gives us some insight into Jewish culture and Talmudic wisdom. I liked it.
The Pale Horse - Agatha Christie ($.75/$.50, copyright 1961, 210 pages, Paperback)
I read a few of Christie's Poirot books in the past, mostly her Poirots, and had no interest in reading any more. Then I found this and noticed that it didn't involve any of her usual sleuths so I picked it up. A Boarding House roomer, Ms. Davis, is suffering from a severe bout of influenza and calls for a priest. She dies after giving the priest a list of names and mumbling how sorry she is to have gotten involved with it. The priest is then murdered on his way home and the police find the list in his shoe. What they also find is that several of the people mentioned have also died recently and that makes them curious. Mark Easterbrook is the main character who's been working on his latest book about the Moorish way of life and is looking for an excuse to get away from it for a while. He gets drawn in to the deaths because his late aunt's name was on the list. There's a lot of upper-class dialogue here but the characters were, to me, not very involving. Christie throws in a few twists and turns and the solution is a surprise but I found that getting there became tedious. It was OK.
Since this is an Anniversary Issue and even though I did miss a few months, I did read this year and I have the totals for you.
Type Count Cover Paid
Series 11 $59.14 $27.06
Miscellaneous 7 $70.09 $31.82
Off The Shelf 3 $31.98 $15.98
Plays 3 $23.54 $12.25
Totals 24 $184.75 $87.11
Grand Totals 421 $3958.65 $631.50
Not too bad considering.
I'm starting to get back into the habit and began an adventure story set during the Napoleonic Era but realized that it was the second in a series because of the various references. I had no choice but to put it down and order the first from one of the Discount sites I like. While I was at it, I ordered two other books - one of which is a Sherlock Holmes pastiche about his adventures during the Great Hiatus. Hopefully, it's as interesting as it seemed in the descriptions.
That's it for now.
December is rapidly approaching and with it - Christmas. As well as snow, ice, and freezing temperatures. The perfect type of weather to wrap up in a comfy blanket with a good book and a holiday movie in the background. So ...
Merry Christmas!
Wear Your Mask -
Wash Your Hands -
And -
Keep Reading.
