Chapter Eighty-three

So far, April has been pretty good to me. Sure, there were a couple of days early on when the car wouldn't start right up but - after I let her sit for an hour or so - she kicked in. We've had some family get-togethers for my Granddaughter's Birthday and Easter and there's definitely a warming trend going on (although that means my allergies kick in). I've also had the time to finish a few books.

Series

In The Shadows of Paris - Claude Izner ($14.99/$.50, copyright 2005, 326 pages, Trade Paperback)
I read the first book in this series several years ago and enjoyed it so, when I came across this, I  had to pick it up. The main character, Victor Legris, is a book shop owner in Paris in the late 1800's.  He involves himself in the death of a book binder who dies in a fire that Legris thinks is suspicious. There's a petty theft that leads to stock manipulation and, of course, a missing manuscript. Izner paints a great picture of Paris at the time but there are way too many characters to keep track of and it got confusing at times. It was OK.

The Devil's Company - David Liss ($15.00/$.50, copyright 2009, 369 pages, Trade Paperback)
I've had this book in "The Pile" for - I'm guessing - over a year now and it just caught my attention again. Turns out, this is the 3rd in the Benjamin Weaver series, set in the early 1700's in London. He's a Private Inquiry Agent who's not above bending the law when it suits him. Here, he's coerced again into going to work for the British East India Company - the "Power Behind The Scenes" at the time. They want him to avenge the honor of one of their members who was set up in a game of chance. Of course, things don't go well. Intrigue follows and Weaver has to do what he has to do. Liss hits the mark on his descriptions of various areas in London and his characters ring true. I enjoyed it.

Miscellaneous

The Poe Shadow - Matthew Pearl ( $15.00/$.50, copyright 2006, 364 pages, Trade Paperback)
I'm a big fan of Edgar Allen Poe so I had to pick this one up. The book is set in 1851 and the main character is a Baltimore attorney, Quentin Clark, who is an admirer of Poe's work. One day he reads in the paper that Poe has died in a Baltimore hospital, supposedly after a drinking binge. Clark refuses to believe that his hero died in such horrible terms, and starts to investigate the matter. In his investigation, he comes upon many puzzling questions over Poe's death. He first goes to Paris to find the real-life basis for Poe's famous detective, August Dupin, and comes back with two possible candidates. From there, the author ramps everything up. Pearl has created some really memorable characters and has done a great job of recreating the City of Baltimore of 1851. I enjoyed it.

As I finish this up, my bedroom window is open and the sun is still shining. I think I'll go across the street to Quick Chek for their Steak and Shredded Potato Bowl for supper. The week ahead looks good, weather-wise.

May is up next.

Keep reading!

Chapter Eighty-two

March has been a rough month for me. I had a stomach virus for several days early in the month. There was a snow storm and, although we only got about 4 inches and I cleaned off/dug out my car after it stopped, I wound up plowed in which iced over during the night. I had to wait a couple of days until my Son-in-law could come over to help me out. Now, because of the damp weather we've been having, my car hasn't started for the last 3 days. Since I've been home-bound, I passed the time with some old friends.

Off the shelf

Before I go into these I have a confession to make. I skimmed through these for a couple of reasons - they're unabridged editions and Dumas was getting paid for every chapter he could produce for the papers so there's a lot of padding. And, of course, I've read them several times before so I know what and where to skip.

The Three Musketeers - Alexander Dumas ($5.95/$5.95, Published 1994, 628 pages, Trade Paperback)
I'm guessing that you all know this story. D'Artagnan, a young Gascon, sets out for Paris to join the Musketeers. He runs into some trouble, actually winds up having to duel with our titular heroes - Athos, Porthos,  and Aremis - and then joins forces with them to fight against the King's Guards. What follows is a little romance, some comedy, a trip to England to help out the Queen, and a lot of action. Still one of my favorites and I enjoyed it.

Twenty Years After - Alexander Dumas($12.95/$12.95, Published 1993, 788 pages, Trade Paperback)
At one point, Dumas found himself in some financial trouble so he went back to his most interesting characters, the Musketeers. He actually set it 20 years after what happened in that first adventure. Now, Athos is retired, D'Artagnan is a Captain, and Aramis is using Porthos in a plot to save King Charles of England from being decapitated. Of course, they all come together for another adventure. The characters are still clearly defined, the history - as far as I know - is accurate, and there's a great mix of drama and humor. I enjoyed it.

The Man In The Iron Mask -Alexander Dumas ($10.95/$10.95, Published 1991, 588 pages, Trade Paperback)
Eventually, Dumas wrote an ending to his Musketeers' saga known as "The Viscount De Bragelonne".He stretched this one out pretty well and it was eventually published here as three volumes - "The Viscount De Bragelonne" (which was interesting and dealt with Athos' son), "Louise De La Valliere" (which was boring), and "The Man in the Iron Mask" (which wraps up our story). Here - 10 years after the King Charles situation - Aramis is now in charge of the Jesuits and finds out that the current king of France, Louis IV, has a twin brother, Phillippe. That brother has been imprisoned for years because Louis was afraid of the kingdom being taken from him. As an extra precaution, Phillippe  was forced to wear the iron  mask. The friends come together again for different reasons and Dumas treats his characters well. He gives us some great dramatic scenes including some unexpected deaths. I enjoyed it.


Side Note:

my older brother, for Christmas one year, gave me a copy of "The Son of Porthos"  supposedly by Alexandre Dumas. It's a Collins Pocket Classics volume with a sticker price of $5. I can't find a copyright or printing date but it's 345 pages and a very small Hardcover. I have tried reading this a few times but it doesn't ring true. I understand that Dumas had a stable of writers who filled in his ideas - kinda like, in my opinion,  James Patterson and Stan Lee - and they tried to carry on after Dumas died. I don't think it worked out.

So, I know it's already Spring but I'm hoping that April feels more like it. I have some ideas for next month. Until then ...

Keep reading.

Chapter Eighty-one

So, it's February and the weather has been anything but seasonal. Not that I'm complaining. Again, I haven't been Babysitting so I have had a lot more free time but I'm still dealing with car problems and I had my yearly cardio tests to go through. I started a few books that I wound up putting down but I did finish a couple and here they are.

Miscellaneous

 The Man In The High Castle - Philip K. Dick ($14.95/$11.50, copyright 1962, 274 pages, Trade Paperback)
I read several of PKD's books many years ago. Specifically, "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep" and the Riverworld series, all of which I enjoyed. When I saw that Amazon had started a series based on this book, I went looking for it but wound up ordering it online - although I was surprised to find that it wasn't available on many of the sites I use and wound up paying more then I usually do. It's a well-written and very convincing alternate history where Hitler and the Nazis, fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan had been the victors in World War II instead of us. He creates a convincing scenario about life here in the U. S. (Germany controlling the East Coast and Japan the West) but goes a step further, he shows us how the takeover has affected the rest of the world at large and how the Nazi beliefs have developed. He even goes so far as to tell a story within a story as he imagines an author in this world speculating on what life would have been like if the Nazis hadn't won. That being said, this is a slow and highly technical novel. Also, it's not a personal story and none of the large amount of characters were particularly interested me. In my opinion, this is an example of a writer - early in his career - who has a great idea but overindulges it. It was OK.

Series

The Inner Circle - Brad Meltzer ($14.99/$1.00, copyright 2011, 386 pages, Trade Paperback)

Brad Meltzer wrote several of my favorite comic book mini-series' back in the day  so, when I came across his "A Book Of Lies" years ago  (which involves one of the creators of Superman) I had to pick it up. I enjoyed it and have read a few more of his books since then. He's got a great amount of knowledge about American History and he's really into conspiracy theories. I understand that this is the first volume in a series. We start with our "hero" Beecher White who works at the National Archives. He agrees to help an old girlfriend out with some research and then things go wrong. They accidentally uncover a link between the current President and the Culper Ring  which was originally a group of spies working for George Washington. This group actually existed, but Meltzer takes it one step further, building his plot around the continuation of the ring as a conspiracy to take over the world. Meltzer can create some great scenarios and his characters are well defined but I think he got carried away here. It was OK.

That's it for this month. Next up - March. St. Patrick's Day and, maybe, some Irish authors.

Until then ....

Keep Reading.

Chapter Eighty

Well, it's a New Year and we have a new President. We'll see how that goes. I haven't been Babysitting my Granddaughter much but I did get some time in. I thought that I'd have more time to read but between exercising my leg and trouble with my car, I didn't get too far. This month's selections are a little different because one is the basis for a current movie and the other is something that popped up in my Facebook Newsfeed that piqued my interest. Of course, you can't expect to find something your looking for at a Library Sale so I ordered them from a couple of online Discount Book Sites that I have bookmarked.

Miscellaneous

Live By Night - Dennis Lehane ($16.99/$4.30, copyright 2012, 402 pages, Trade Paperback)
 I saw that Ben Affleck made this into a movie and I thought that I'd look it up. Lehane has been one of my favorite authors for years.  Here he takes  Joe Coughlin, who was a minor character in Lehane's previous book "The Given Day" (which was pretty good) and gives him a new life. He is the youngest son of a Boston Police Captain who turns his back on a life of fighting crime to become a criminal himself. The book reads like a collection of events in a gangster's life during the late '20's Jazz Age including bootlegging, violence, and racism. Lehane  has an amazing ability to adapt his tone to fit the era of which he writes and he's tried to create an homage to the Bogart anti-hero stereotype - you know, the good guy gone bad. But , in my opinion, there's no reasoning behind what Coughlin does and that ruined the story for me. It was OK.


The Autobiography of Jack The Ripper - James Carnac (?/$4.76, copyright 2012, 277 pages, Hard Cover)
This is the alleged manuscript of the “real” Jack the Ripper. Written in the 1920's by a man calling himself James Carnac, it was "discovered" recently in a lot of memorabilia purchased by a vintage toy dealer (Alan Hicken) and it's divided into 3 parts. The first deals with his childhood, which was quite brutal; the second concerns the murders in Whitechapel; and the third occurs decades later, with Carnac detailing an odd circumstance he has found himself in with his landlady. I've read a lot about Jack over the years and I found this book fascinating. I don't actually believe that it's real (considering that there's a Paul Begg, freelance writer, who wrote the Introduction) but there is a lot of information in the manuscript that would likely only be known by the killer. I don't think we'll ever know the truth. I enjoyed it.

Well, that's it for this month. Up next, February.

I'm hoping we can get through without too much angst, given the "State of the Union".

Until then ....

Keep reading.

Chapter Seventy-nine

It's December and it'll be Christmas in 5 days. Family circumstances have changed since last month so I haven't been babysitting but I have been able to spend some time with my Granddaughter. In the meantime, I've gotten all my shopping done, the presents are wrapped, and I read a few books.

Miscellaneous

'Tis - Frank McCourt ($14.00/$.50, copyright 1999, 367 pages, Trade Paperback)
I enjoyed McCourt's first part of his memoir -  "Angela's Ashes" -  so I was happy to come across this at a Library sale. He starts this one as a young man at 19 years old and has left Ireland to find his future in New York. He talks about a lot -  specifically his Army service and his educational experience, ending up as a teacher. McCourt has this uncanny ability of making simple dialogue catchy and witty but the first half kind of drags. The second half of the book, however, is much better. Angela McCourt, the mother, pays a visit to her sons in the US: Frank, now a high school teacher, Malachy, a bar owner, Michael, an American soldier and Alphie, living in Manhattan. What the brothers do when she passes explains the title of the first book and brings a kind of closure. There's a third volume to this memoir - "Teacher Man" - which I'll be keeping an eye out for. It was OK.

Off the Shelf

Night of Camp David - Fletcher Knebel ($1.25/$1.25, copyright 1965, 312 pages, Paperback)
I was looking through my TBR pile for something else and came across this book. Given the current political situation I decided to reread it. It follows the formula of Knebel's successful "Seven Days in May" -  a loyal subordinate begins doubting his larger-than-life superior, and must persuade a skeptical establishment about his doubts before the nation suffers irreparable damage. President Mark Hollenbach is at the top of his game on the eve of his campaign for a second term. But a scandal has disgraced his vice-president, so he needs a new running mate, and turns to first-term senator Jim MacVeagh. But as the President courts MacVeagh at the Presidential Retreat he reveals confidential plans for his next administration, MacVeagh begins doubting the President's judgment, then his sanity. MacVeagh reluctantly confides his doubts to a few colleagues, who doubt MacVeagh more than they doubt the President. But when the President schedules a summit with the wily Soviet leader, the question of Hollenbach's mental health becomes critical, and MacVeagh must air the doubts that may bring him down instead of Hollenbach. It's been over 40 years since this was first published but it feels pretty timely now. I enjoyed it.

Series

The Houdini Specter - Daniel Stashower ($12.95/$1.00, copyright 2012, 210 pages, Trade Paperback)
I've always been interested in Houdini so, when I came across this at a library sale, I snapped it up. It turned out to be the second in a series that Stashower has been writing but it stands well on it's own.The year is 1898 and Harry Houdini is twenty-four years old and is still confined to dime museums where he performs tricks that he feels are beneath him. Then, he gets a break - Biggs, a journalist and friend of Harry’s brother Dash, has been present at a spiritualist’s gathering where he’s witnessed what to him seem inexplicable occurrences. A Medium, Lucius Craig,  has attached himself to a vulnerable and very wealthy widow with a promise that he will be able to contact her recently deceased husband. When Harry and Dash are invited to join in during the next séance in order to expose what must be a fraud they are only too happy to comply, sure in the conviction that Craig won’t be able to produce any tricks they aren’t capable of themselves. When, during the séance, Craig – who has been securely tied to a chair by Harry - doesn’t just produce a free-floating ghost but also has that apparition kill one of the other participants with a knife, even Harry and Dash are astonished. Still convinced that they are dealing with a charlatan they proceed to investigate. An investigation during which Harry embarrasses himself once or twice and Dash nearly ends up as a victim himself. The solution seemed implausible to me but Stashower is also a magician and explains everything in his note at the end. The story is told from Dash's point of view so you not only get to experience the mystery but you get a glimpse into the complicated character that Houdini was. I enjoyed it.

Today is the First Day of Winter and it's seasonably cold but at least it's not snowing. It's only a few days until Christmas and I'm looking forward to this one. It will be my Granddaughter's second but the first one she'll really enjoy.

Merry Christmas to all of you and ...

Keep reading.

Seventh Anniversary Edition!

It's November but - so far - we haven't had too many cold days although I understand that's gonna change tomorrow. My Granddaughter and I are still having a great time, including spending time reading. Here are the one's that I managed to read by myself this month.

Series

Inferno - Dan Brown ($9.99/$.50, copyright 2013, 611 pages, Paperback)
I enjoyed "Angels and Demons" and thought that "The DaVinci Code" was pretty good so I was looking forward to reading this. Robert Langdon - our hero - wakes up in the hospital, with no idea where he is. Within minutes of awakening in the hospital, the chase is on. An assassin tries to kill him but Langdon escapes, joined by an attractive young female doctor, Sienna, he met two minutes before. They spend the first half of this book being pursued by various factions in black clothes driving black cars with blacked out windows. They find hidden passages, overcome locked doors, hide behind sculptures and paintings, outrun helicopter tracking drones, discover ancient caverns and on and on and on, always on the brink of being captured but always managing to make it in the nick of time as pages are taken up describing various paintings, sculptures, fountains, passageways, artists, Florentine history, and lots and lots and lots of Dante's Inferno. It's all overblown and, in my opinion, there's way too much time spent on Florentine history. I finished it but I wouldn't recommend it.


Miscellaneous


Deadwood - Pete Dexter ($14.00/$.50, copyright 1986, 365 pages, Trade Paperback)
I'm a child of the '50's and grew up watching Westerns on TV so I love when I come across anything like this. Deadwood is really everything a Western ought to be: a character-centric story full of dirt, killing, heartbreak, misery, drunkenness, and simple moments. I picked it up because it mentioned Wild Bill Hickock in the blurbs and Dexter spends a portion of the book dealing with Hicock's death but he also dedicates portions of the book to Colorado Charley Utter, Calamity Jane, Al Swearengen, and others. Calamity Jane, in particular, is shown as a drunken mess but also an extremely tender woman who cares for the sick during an outbreak of smallpox, and the complexity and inconsistency of her character make her one of the most magnetic in the book. I enjoyed it.

Totals

I haven't read as much this year, Largely because my Granddaughter has taken up more of my time and I've had some health issues to deal with. Still, I don't think the numbers are bad.

Miscellaneous - 18 books, $135.15 cover price, $18.73 actual price

Series - 8 books, $68.94 cover price, $12,22 actual price

Off The Shelf  - 4 books, $27.89 cover price, $27.89 actual price

This year's totals:

30 books, $231.98 cover price, $58.84 actual price.

Seven years totals are:

294 books, $2,984.89 cover price, $298.49.

I'm in the middle of a new book now and I hope you are, too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Next up, December so ....

Keep reading.

Chapter Seventy-eight

It's October although you wouldn't know it by the weather the last few days. I had a few extra days off over the first two weeks of the month because of School Holidays but I'm back to Babysitting 4 days a week now. My Granddaughter is getting older and we spend a lot more time taking walks, sometimes to the park or the Library. I can usually count on her to take a nap after lunch for about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours during which I eat my lunch and read. Here's what I've gotten through since last month.

Miscellaneous

Half Of Paradise - James Lee Burke ($7.99/$.00, copyright 1965, 469 pages, Paperback)
This was given to me by a friend who bought a box of books at a Yard Sale and thought that I'd like it. I've read a lot of Burke's books over the years - especially most of his Dave Robichaux series - and enjoyed most of them. This is Burke's first published work and reads like three different short stories that he reworked. You get the last in the line of  former Louisiana landowners who has an alcohol problem; a dirt-poor boy with a talent for playing guitar who hits the big time and drugs; and a black dock worker who boxes on the side but gets badly hurt and then framed for a robbery. These are stereotypes in Burke's books and, when he merges the stories it gets very depressing. Still, Burke's strengths are here - his characters, dialogue, and the descriptions of everyday lives ring true. It was OK.

Trans Atlantic - Colum McCann ($12.00/$3.99, copyright 2013, 304 pages, Trade Paperback)
I've read a few of McCann's books before and - for the most part - enjoyed them. This one is a collection of short (and not so short) stories about crossings from America to Ireland and vice versa that he tries to tie together into a novel. It begins with an utterly compelling account of the first transatlantic plane flight that describes the perils of what they went through. The second chapter is about Frederick Douglas's visit to Ireland during the early days of the Great Famine, which was interesting but a bit too long. Then, for me, it became a struggle. The George Mitchell chapter made me put it down for a while but the last few chapters - the crossing from Ireland to America - saved things. McCann can write and there are parts of this book that were a pleasure to read. It was OK.

A Pirate Looks At Fifty - Jimmy Buffett ($15.00/$3.99, copyright 1998, 420 pages, Trade Paperback)
I’ve been a fan of Buffett’s music for a long time. Some of it's funny and some of it's not but I have a good time when I listen (see what I did there?).  Buffet wrote this as an autobiography/travelogue type of book to celebrate his 50th Birthday (Christmas Day, 1996). He talks about his family, his early years, his wild days of drug and alcohol abuse, and his struggles to make it in the music industry. He doesn’t gloss over the fact that his fame and popularity leave him with the money and connections to do whatever he wants to, but he does not flaunt it, either. It is simply the way it is.The writing is simple and straightforward, and fun to read. I enjoyed it.

So ... that's it for now. The weather report says that we're in for more seasonal weather. I did notice, driving around today, that the leaves are really starting to fall. I'm not sure what my Granddaughter is going to be dressed as for Halloween but I'm sure she'll be cute.

Next up - November. Until then ..........

Keep reading.